Before Crisis 2: The Crisis
by Jescii
Summary: With the remaining Turks kept on a tight leash by Shinra, it appears that they no longer have second chances. We all know what happened to the original Turks in Before Crisis... but what exactly was the crisis? The heavily canon sequel to Before Crisis is FFVII from the Turks' POV.
1. Chapter 1 - The Aftermath

**Before Crisis 2: The Crisis** by Jescii

 _The events of FFVII told from the Turks' POV. I do not own the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII or any of its characters. The credit goes to Square Enix._

* * *

 **Chapter 1** \- The Aftermath

 **December 9th [ ν ] - εγλ 0007, 9:45 PM**

"We owe you a lot, Mr. Vice-President. On behalf of all the Turks, I thank you."

Tseng, Reno, and Rude stood outside on the helipad of the Shinra Building. Their lives had just been spared and it was all thanks to Rufus, the Vice-President of Shinra Inc. Despite their recent betrayal to Shinra and the loss of their leader Veld, the Department of Administrative Research aka the Turks; they were going to live on.

Reno sighed in relief as he watched Rufus walk away. He glanced at his longtime partners Tseng and Rude. "Only the three of us, huh," he said.

"Not enough?" Rude turned to him, causing Reno shrug his shoulders in response.

"In any case, we will always carry out our duty," said Tseng in a clear, crisp voice to his two subordinates. "For the chief... and for our lost comrades..."

The three Turks stepped closer together in unison but remained in silence.

Suddenly, a klaxon sounded and red lights began to flash in and outside the building. "Emergency alert! Emergency alert!" yelled out an automated voice from the speaker. Alerted by the announcement, the Turks looked around cautiously and waited for more details. "Intruders in Mako Reactor 1," came a real voice this time, a male voice. "I repeat, we have intruders in Mako Reactor 1."

Reno snorted. "Well then... straight back to work, huh?"

"Let's go," agreed Rude, as he and Reno turned away from Tseng. However, realizing that their new leader remained standing in the same spot, they stopped after a few steps and turned towards him.

"Tseng, sir?" Reno called out.

With one hand, Tseng removed his ponytail and let his black hair fall to his shoulders. "Reno, Rude," he called back. "The Turks will be a new organization from now on. A new start."

As usual, Rude had nothing to say and waited for Reno to respond. "One thing won't change..." said the redhead.

"The pride in our work," came the expected response from Tseng. "Let's get going."

"Yes sir."

* * *

 _ **A/N:** This is part one of the epilogue in Before Crisis: "The Cantata That Connects Comrades"._


	2. Chapter 2 - AVALANCHE: Rebirth

**Before Crisis 2: The Crisis** by Jescii

 _The events of FFVII told from the Turks' POV. I do not own the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII or any of its characters. The credit goes to Square Enix._

* * *

 **Chapter 2** \- AVALANCHE: Rebirth

 **December 9th [ ν ] - εγλ 0007, 10:10 PM**

There apparently was an intrusion in the Sector 1 Reactor, one of eight Mako Reactors built in Midgar by the Shinra Electrical Power Company. These reactors were made to forcibly extract The Planet's Lifestream from the earth and process it into Mako energy, the most efficient form of fuel and electricity in the world. Just minutes after being rescued by Rufus Shinra, the Turks were to promptly respond to this intrusion along with other qualified Shinra guards and patrols.

Tseng's PHS rang as he ran to one of the parked helicopters. "Tseng speaking," he answered.

"Don't mess this one up, Tseng!" came a voice that belonged to Heidegger, the Head of Public Safety and incompetent boss of the Turks. "Take the helicopter to the reactor. I've already sent the troops out to investigate."

"I'm already on it," answered Tseng. The call ended as he hopped onto the helicopter, taking along two Shinra infantrymen to assist him in this urgent mission.

Meanwhile, Reno and Rude had just exited the emergency elevator when it reached the parking lot of the Shinra Building.

"Hey uh, Rude?" uttered Reno as he and Rude jogged towards one of the black, compact Turk vehicles.

Rude turned. "Hm?"

"I've never really seen Tseng with his hair down like that. He looks... cooler. What do you think?"

"..."

Reno and Rude quickly entered the car as soon as its doors opened, in automatic fashion. As usual, Reno was the one taking the driver's seat. "So we're going to Sector 1," he called.

"Yes. The reactor."

"Let's go, partner."

Reno and Rude made affirmative nods to each other before starting the car. Their destination was the North Edge Station in Sector 1, which like any place was not distant from the tall Shinra Headquarters residing in the very center of Midgar's circular city. This station conveniently linked Sector 1 and its slums component together, as well as its Mako Reactor and the edge boundaries of Sector 8. Normally, it took Reno and Rude just 10 minutes to reach this particular location by car.

However, neither of them expected to be interrupted by an urgent call from Tseng, who had very, very bad news to announce.

"Reno, Rude," his voice rolled out through the PHS transceivers. "I'm getting word from Shinra patrols that the intruders have activated the bomb in the reactor."

"You, you serious?!" shouted Reno, who almost lost control of the steering wheel. "Who are they!?"

"Soldiers couldn't stop them?" muttered Rude.

"Probably AVALANCHE. The second incarnation," replied Tseng. The very mention of AVALANCHE caused Rude to shake his head lightly.

"Huh."

There was a short pause from Tseng. "If nobody disarms the bomb," he continued, "then hundreds of civilians will die."

"How much time do we have?" asked Rude.

"...Not much, unfortunately," came a quick response. "The bombs were set in the main generator... and usually it takes roughly ten minutes to escape the reactor from that location. If these terrorists know where they're going, I presume that the bombs they've activated will blow up in ten minutes. I don't think we can make it in time to stop it. Do be careful."

The call ended as Reno and Rude approached the entrance of North Edge Station, where they parked their car near the town square, a safe distance away from the Sector 1 Reactor. From there, they saw perturbed groups of civilians fleeing as fellow Shinra patrols issued warnings over loudspeakers about the potential explosion.

"Should we split up from here?" asked Reno as he grabbed his Electro-Mag Rod (EMR) out of the car. "I know it's too late, but we should at least try to evacuate as many civilians as we possibly can."

"I'll take the south end."

"I'll take north, then. Come on, let's go."

And with that, the two Turks ran in opposite directions from each other, in an attempt to evacuate as many civilians as possible.

However, it didn't take more than a minute for the detonation to come. From Tseng's view, there erupted a massive fireball out of the reactor, a boisterous explosion that might have awakened the entire city of Midgar. The resulting smog completely covered the skies of Sector 1, and even screams from 5000 feet below could be heard inside the helicopter.

"Fuck!" screamed Reno as he rushed back to the town square, bustling through dozens of scared and confused citizens. All he had hoped now was that there were as few casualties as possible from the attack, but he knew deep inside that several hundreds were instantly killed. "We were too late..." he spoke through his PHS to Tseng and Rude.

"That was... unexpected," commented Tseng, dryly.

"Totally AVALANCHE, right?!"

"No clue."

Though Reno wasn't exactly trying to find his partner, Rude was too easy to spot in even the largest of crowds. He was particularly large in size and was the only person Reno knew who was bald and wore sunglasses. "Rude!" shouted Reno as he ran towards him. "Rude!"

Rude turned to see Reno when he heard his name being called multiple times. When they met face-to-face again, Tseng's voice came through the PHS. "Shinra troops are now after these terrorists. You guys should do the same, or at least find any witnesses," ordered the leader.

"Well, Rude. We got work to do."

"I'll search the slums."

For the next hour, Reno and Rude searched through Sector 1 for any clues or information about AVALANCHE. It was already approaching midnight and the streets were filled with crowds of bewildered people and Shinra's Rescue Unit; they had completely taken over the North Edge Station in tending all the dead and injured civilians from the attack. Tseng had already returned to the Shinra Headquarters and was waiting for Reno and Rude to return any information that they may have found in their search.

"Someone said... a dark-skinned man with a gun on his arm," reported Rude, to Reno through the PHS. "And I heard several Shinra troops were brutally injured in Sector 8."

Reno sighed. "I got nothing."

"But that's all I have, after one hour. We should head back now."

"See you at North Edge?"

"Yes."

"Tseng, we're headed back to Shinra HQ," announced Rude through the PHS. This entered Tseng into the conversation between Reno and Rude.

"Good work, both of you," came out his response. "I expect a full report for tomorrow on your findings."

It was now well past midnight when Reno and Rude decided to call it a night. With their lives spared and with AVALANCHE back into the picture, it was safe to assume that the Turks were in for a new adventure.

* * *

 _ **A/N:** This is the first scene in FFVII, but from the Turks' point of view._


	3. Chapter 3 - Ancient and SOLDIER

**Before Crisis 2: The Crisis** by Jescii

 _The events of FFVII told from the Turks' POV. I do not own the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII or any of its characters. The credit goes to Square Enix._

* * *

 **Chapter 3** \- Ancient and SOLDIER

 **December 10th [ ν ] - εγλ 0007**

Over a hundred casualties were recorded from AVALANCHE's bombing of Sector 1. As the President expected another to come sooner than later, he was left with no choice but to have Shinra tighten security over Midgar's remaining seven reactors. Furthermore, the Shinra Company had begun their investigation into AVALANCHE's hideout and was now hoping for any slum dwellers to confirm where it was located.

But instead of focusing solely on AVALANCHE, the President had Heidegger send the Turks to capture Aerith Gainsborough, a young woman of Cetra race who was believed to possess magical powers. Shinra believed that with her help, they would be able to seek the legendary Promised Land, a quasi-mythical location believed to hold infinite amounts of Mako deposits. Aerith resided in the slums of Sector 5 with her adoptive mother, and was the only known Cetra remaining in the world.

Capturing an innocent woman like Aerith was not a difficult nor dangerous task for the Turks, despite her being wanted now for over 15 years. The completion of this mission had been delayed for so long because Tseng had known Aerith since his teen years and had developed a soft spot on her, thus never even thinking about capturing her up to this point. This time, however, the Turks knew for their own sake that they needed to complete this mission and bring her in, to prevent themselves from losing any more of the President's trust.

It was early morning when Tseng first heard about the President's desire to put an end to this long-delayed mission. Keeping in mind that he no longer had a second chance, he made the decision to send Reno to Sector 5 to capture Aerith; though Tseng knew that she wasn't going to have a choice anyway, he did not want to be the one capturing her.

"So the President wants me to capture that Ancient, huh? No problem," said Reno cockily as he walked down the helipad towards one of the B1-Alpha Helicopters. He was being accompanied by three talkative Shinra infantrymen, who seemed to be treating this mission as if it were a field trip.

When he and the troops entered the helicopter, the emergency alarm beamed once again and red lights started to flash in and out of the building. "Emergency Alert! Emergency Alert!" yelled out an automated voice, the same one from the night before.

"AVALANCHE again?" roared Reno, alerted by the interruption.

"Intruders in Mako Reactor 5. I repeat, intruders in Mako Reactor 5."

"You're kidding me!" he snarled, bringing his hands behind his head.

Reno thought for a few seconds to decide what to do next, but reminding himself that the Turks weren't to abandon their ordered missions for any reason, he started the helicopter anyway with his mind and destination set on the Sector 5 slums. Part of the slums consisted of a portion of the Sector 5 Reactor itself, while the rest was beneath it along with the entire upper plate of Sector 5. Despite all this, Reno planned not to stop by the reactor or do anything to delay the mission any longer; though he had practically all day to bring Aerith in, a single Turk was not going to help much anyway, and the increased Shinra security would be plenty enough to stop AVALANCHE from destroying another reactor.

Though sometimes described as lazy and laid back, Reno was a competent helicopter pilot who found himself piloting more often than Rude and almost as much as Tseng. Over the years, he had learned of all the routes and shortcuts within the entire city of Midgar, to get to just about anywhere as soon and efficiently as possible. It took him roughly five minutes to find his way to ground level of the Sector 5 slums, where he parked the helicopter on a large grass field, not too far from the exit of Midgar via Sector 5.

"Alright boys, let's get to work," said Reno to the infantrymen, pointing his EMR at them as they all hopped out of the helicopter. Such weapon was never needed for a harmless mission like this one, but he brought it anyway out of habit as he would in any mission, even in ones that involved very little or no violence.

"Where are we going, Reno? asked one of the troops.

Reno smirked at the serious guy sarcastically before answering, "Just follow me."

Thanks to Tseng, Reno knew exactly where to go to find Aerith: the Sector 5 Church. That was where she spent most of her time in, tending to her impressive patch of flowers which she had grown all by herself, a remarkable feat considering the unnecessary pollution caused by the Mako Reactors.

Suddenly, after just a few steps, Reno and the three troops were interrupted by a massive exploding noise that came from somewhere above the plate.

"The heck was that?!" one of the troops cried out.

"Somebody just die?" yelled another.

Reno sighed and lifted his face towards the ceiling of the plate. "Shinra... if you let AVALANCHE blow up another reactor..." he muttered. Taking out his PHS, he tried to call Tseng and Rude but there was no answer. Perhaps the signal was too weak at the time. "Oh well... Shinra will find a way to capture them."

Followed by the three troops, Reno eventually reached the disoriented paths of the Sector 5 slums, where the tall, deserted church could be seen from the distance. There weren't any buildings surrounding the church so the sight of it was nearly unavoidable.

"The Ancient... she should be in there," he alerted the troops as they approached the entrance of the building, its front door half-open. "Stay here until I signal," he ordered them before entering the building.

When Reno stepped inside, the first thing he saw ahead was the usual patch of flowers. Then he heard a high-pitched giggle, and immediately he knew that Aerith was there. He started to hear more conversation and laughter as her figure became more visible, and it became obvious that she was with someone else. "This is gonna be bad..." he whispered.

But Reno froze when he saw a familiar, spiky blond-haired male standing next to her. The young man was wearing the classic uniform of a SOLDIER 1st Class with a huge broadsword on his back, and Reno also noted the rare, blue color of his eyes. _Wait... what? He looks extremely familiar..._

"Sorry, I just..." Reno heard Aerith speak to the man. That was when she noticed the Turk standing there, prompting the man to face him, a suddenly agitated look on his face.

"Oh, bad timing on my part," said Aerith again as the man started to approach Reno slowly.

"Don't mind me," Reno called out, keeping his calm demeanor, but the man continued to stare him down.

"Cloud! Don't let him get to you!" shouted Aerith, clutching his arm from behind.

Cloud. That was his name. It was that moment when Reno realized that Cloud was a former Shinra infantryman who, along with Zack Fair, became one of Hojo's test subjects five years ago and ended up escaping as a Mako-poisoned fugitive. Reno easily remembered SOLDIER 1st Class Zack, as he was known personally by Tseng, and it had only been two months since he was assassinated by Shinra after the Turks failed their mission to find him. But what about Cloud? Wasn't he left to die in the wastelands as well?

Reno's eyes started to fade as he tried to make any sense out of this. After half a minute, he regained full consciousness when he heard Cloud speak for the first time. "OK, I'll do it..." Cloud said to Aerith as he took another cautious glimpse at Reno. "But it'll cost you."

"Well then, let's see..." replied Aerith, releasing her arm off of Cloud. "How about if I go out with you once?"

Cloud made a nod before turning towards Reno, approaching him slowly. This prompted Reno to walk down the aisle and confront him. "I don't know who you are, but..." uttered Cloud as he stopped mid-sentence. "Oh yeah, I know you," he corrected himself and continued a few more steps forward. "That uniform..."

Reno got a clear look of Cloud's face for the first time and again noted his Mako eyes. This was when he heard multiple footsteps coming from behind; the three Shinra troops had come inside without his signal.

"...Hey, sis, this one's a little weird," called out one of the troops.

"Shut up! You Shinra spy!" stammered Cloud, his face immediately blazing with anger.

"Reno! Want him taken out?" yelled out another troop.

Reno turned to the infantryman. "I haven't decided yet."

"Don't fight here! You'll ruin the flowers!" cried Aerith as she began running to the back door of the church. "The exit is back here," she called for Cloud.

When Cloud and Aerith escaped the scene, the troops began to burst out laughing at the man's cowardice to fight. They laughed even harder when Reno stomped straight through the flower patch on his way to the back door. "They were... Mako eyes," the redhead said to himself before turning to face the troops. "Yeah, alright. Back to work, back to work." He then walked over to the door, but turned around once again before he went through. "Oh! And don't step on the flowers."

The three infantrymen barked in unison as they watched Reno leave the room. "Hey Reno, you just stepped on them!" "They're all ruined!" "You're gonna catch holy hell!"

The back room of the church was three floors high and looked as broken as ever, as there was a huge, rocket-shaped missile piercing through the middle of it. Reno took a quick scan around the massive room, and took just a moment to find Aerith and Cloud trapped on the second-floor ledge, intercepted by the rusty missile. "There they are, over there!" he shouted. Waiting for the troops to arrive, he heard the two exchange some words before Cloud jumped over the missile onto the next ledge.

"Aerith! This way!" shouted Cloud as he motioned her to follow.

"The Ancient is getting away!" roared Reno to the troops. "Attack! Attack! Attack!"

Aerith shrieked as the infantrymen opened fire in an attempt to knock her down. Though they missed on all shots, the troops eventually managed to get her to lose her footing, and she slipped off and landed right on the high-sloped missile. "Eaygh!" screamed Aerith as she slid all the way down to the first floor.

Cloud yelled in horror from above. "Aerith!"

"Think we killed 'em?" bragged Reno, now a huge smirk on his face. "They shouldn't have put up a fight, I say!"

One of the troops then began to run after Aerith, who stood alone in the corner with almost nowhere to go. "Cloud, help!" she cried out. Once the troop had her nearly cornered, he stopped and waved for his buddies to arrive so they could capture her together.

"Aerith! Hold on a minute!" hollered Cloud as he raced up the stairs to the third floor.

When Reno looked up, he saw Cloud pushing a large barrel and successfully dropping it onto the high-sloped missile. The barrel quickly gathered speed as it made its way to the bottom corner, catching and squishing the infantryman by surprise. "Guuagh!" howled the agonized troop.

Now given the opportunity to escape, Aerith ran up the main stairwell but with the two remaining infantrymen in hot pursuit. But then came another barrel dropping right in front of the couple, flattening them as it rolled down the stairs. "Nwahh!"

Reno facepalmed as the three injured troops whimpered in pain. He saw Aerith eventually make her way to the third floor where Cloud was, and the two escaped through a hole in the roof of the church. With the completion of the mission delayed once again, Reno pulled out his phone to call Tseng.

"Tseng speaking," his smooth voice came out.

"Chief, the Ancient got away," reported Reno, his legs slightly shaking. "But not without a little help from someone... from someone you'll never believe."

"Who?" asked Tseng after a short pause.

"It was Cloud Strife."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. What?"

"Cloud Strife, sir."

"...Are you sure?"

"Yeah, positive!" crowed Reno. "He had blond hair and Mako eyes and wore the old SOLDIER 1st Class uniform with a sword-"

"Reno, this is... crazy," interrupted Tseng. "The President and I encountered Cloud Strife in the Sector 5 Reactor just before the bombs went off. Although I don't think they've ever met, the President was surprised to see his very Mako eyes, and from up in the helicopter I was able to recognize him easily."

Reno's eyes widened in confusion. "...What?!"

"He was with two other people... and I can confirm that he is with AVALANCHE," explained Tseng in a shaky tone. "As you know, these... terrorists were successful again in blowing up another of Shinra's reactors... the Sector 5 Reactor. Heidegger and I sent the President to the reactor to confront them as soon as the alarms went off... and when we managed to find AVALANCHE, the President fired one of the roboguards at them... and Cloud... you said you saw him, with Aerith. This means he must have fallen down the reactor and somehow landed in the Sector 5 slums... "

"No fucking way, man... no fucking way..." Reno couldn't help but keep swearing.

"So you said he was with Aerith," rolled out Tseng's sighing response.

"Yes."

"And...?"

"Cloud saved her and they escaped the church together."

"Did you... fight him?"

"No, the troops did... kind of."

"Aerith... and AVALANCHE..."

"What?"

"Never mind. Return to the Shinra Building."

The call ended with Reno standing in stunned silence, feeling completely bewildered as the three injured infantrymen crawled up to him. _Cloud Strife... we've never met until now... but I know you. I've read about you. You're supposed to be dead._

* * *

 _ **A/N:** This is the scene in FFVII where Cloud meets Aerith and rescues her from Reno._


	4. Chapter 4 - President's Wish

**Before Crisis 2: The Crisis** by Jescii

 _The events of FFVII told from the Turks' POV. I do not own the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII or any of its characters. The credit goes to Square Enix._

* * *

 **Chapter 4** \- President's Wish

 **December 11th [ ν ] - εγλ 0007, 10:30 AM**

President Shinra was incensed over AVALANCHE. For everything they had done, he just wanted them erased from this world forever. It perplexed him how they had managed to sneak past all the increased security, and eventually succeed in destroying another reactor. Their attack on Sector 5 was their second in as many days, resulting in hundreds of more casualties and twice as many injuries.

"I question their reliability," he said to Tseng and Heidegger about the security team. "Bunch of scrubs sleepin' on the job."

"Gya haa haa!" chuckled Heidegger. "We might as well replace all of them with our techno-soldiers! That Airbuster was a good one."

However, as agitated as he was with AVALANCHE, the President was pleased to hear some good news later that evening. Don Corneo, an informant of the Sector 6 slums, had confirmed the location of AVALANCHE's hideout, reporting that it was based in the Sector 7 slums. As the exact location was unknown, there had to be quicker way to infiltrate their hideout. Then came the President's over-the-top wish, which was to completely erase Sector 7 by breaking the support of its structural plate, and dropping it thousands of feet to crush the slums. To make matters more extreme, Shinra could then send in the Rescue Unit to tend to those injured while holding AVALANCHE responsible for the catastrophe.

With the exception of Reeve Tuesti, the head of Urban Development, the Shinra Executives had agreed with the President and were optimistic to put his plans into action. Acknowledging his 'brilliance', they hoped that doing this would put an official end to AVALANCHE, even if millions of civilians were going to die with them.

Unfortunately for the Turks, Heidegger was among those executives, and it was only the previous night when the President emailed his ideas to his subordinates, just minutes after discovering the location of AVALANCHE's hideout. When Tseng read that email, he immediately knew what was coming next; Heidegger was going to take advantage of him by sending him and the Turks to demolish Sector 7.

"Tseng speaking," he responded to a phone call. The leader of the Turks had been spending the morning in his headquarters office on Floor 58.

"As mentioned in last night's email," rolled out a thick, heavy voice; it was Heidegger. "The President wants Sector 7 destroyed... today. I have already unlocked the Emergency Plate Release System at the Sector 7 Pillar, and we're counting on you Turks to activate it. 5:30 pm, sharp."

Tseng closed his eyes. Having no second option, he agreed. "...That will be taken care of."

"Gya haa haa!" came Heidegger's signature laugh. "This is going to be great!"

"..."

"One more thing..." he continued. "The President wants the Ancient in as soon as possible."

"I will get to it."

The call ended, and for a long moment Tseng stared in the space. If he dared, this upcoming mission would undoubtedly be the deadliest in the history of the Turks. Compared to this, the President's desire to capture Aerith was harmless; in fact, it no longer bothered Tseng after he became aware that she had befriended someone from AVALANCHE. He had always had a strong hatred for AVALANCHE, but to eliminate them this way was just too much.

Distracted from his paperwork, Tseng proceeded to call his partners Reno and Rude. "Come to my office at 11 for a meeting," he said.

* * *

Meanwhile, Reno and Rude were in the cafeteria on Floor 64, enjoying a late breakfast and having their daily discussion on current events and random topics. Floor 64 of the Shinra Building was the recreational area for Shinra's top employees, having practically anything that one could hope for in a dream home. From showers, beds, and gyms to a variety of indoor activities including table tennis and billiards, the 64th floor was where Reno and Rude spent most of their spare time in during the morning.

"So Rude," called Reno as he swallowed the last bit of a meat sandwich. "You think Shinra would ever consider hiring more Turks?"

It was just another of Reno's random questions, but this time he asked a good one. Taking a moment to think, Rude put his coffee down on the table and adjusted his sunglasses, pushing it further up so his eyes couldn't be seen. "We haven't recruited anyone in years," he finally answered, his voice baritone. "Heidegger would probably want to keep it that way."

"Just the three of us, though?" came Reno's fast response. "You would think with the current situation-"

"Current situation?" interrupted Rude, shaking his head. "After today, AVALANCHE is no more. Not even... Cloud Strife."

"He won't survive this time, that's for sure," Reno smirked for a moment, unaware of how destructive the mission could turn out to be. "But... more Turks?" he continued. "To have extra backup, that ain't a bad idea..."

Rude fired back, "If you want more Turks, why don't you ask Tseng?"

"Hey, I never said I wanted more," shrugged Reno, leaning back on his chair. "It just feels a bit lonely these days, man. We were a bigger group back then."

"It's 10:50," muttered Rude after a short pause. "We should get going."

Membership of the Turks had always been exclusive, having only ten members towards the end of the conflict with the original AVALANCHE. It had been just two months since many of the Turks had gone missing while battling Zirconiade, a summon for AVALANCHE whose purpose was to somehow eradicate all life on the Planet. Prior to the event, Shinra had forced Tseng to assassinate his former boss Veld for betraying the company, after he was caught helping his daughter Elfé, former leader of AVALANCHE, in healing a rare illness. Since then, the Turks' numbers had dwindled down to three members with Heidegger taking over as their official boss.

* * *

"Chief, what is it?" blurted Reno as he and Rude barged into Tseng's office. "Right, it's about AVALANCHE and Sector 7. Or you want one of us to try catching that Ancient again?"

Tseng paused for a moment before facing his two subordinates. "No... I'm doing it," he sighed.

Reno and Rude looked at each other, their faces showing a somewhat surprised expression. "You mean it?" worried Rude.

"Yes, I'm going to capture Aerith," confirmed Tseng. "As you know, Shinra is counting on us to drop the Sector 7 Plate... killing millions of people in the process."

"And this is just to get rid of AVALANCHE," repeated Reno, his arms crossed lazily. "It's gotta be a clean death for everyone, right?"

"Yeah, for those living in the slums," guessed Rude. "For those above the plate... some could end up trapped in rubble for days."

"Reno, Rude. Have a seat, " ordered Tseng as he pushed his aside. "I've come up with a plan to make this all work."

* * *

 _ **A/N:** Behind-the-scenes moments before the historical collapse of Sector 7. _


	5. Chapter 5 - The Battle of Sector 7

**Before Crisis 2: The Crisis** by Jescii

 _The events of FFVII told from the Turks' POV. I do not own the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII or any of its characters. The credit goes to Square Enix._

* * *

 **Chapter 5** \- The Battle of Sector 7

 **December 11th [ ν ] - εγλ 0007, 5:00 PM**

Tseng, Rude, and Reno sat inside a single helicopter ready to take on two heartbreaking missions.

"Reno... you sure you're okay with this?" Rude asked one last time as he piloted the B1-Beta Helicopter towards the Sector 7 slums. Reno had volunteered himself to activate the Emergency Plate Release System, with the lives of everyone in Sector 7 on his hands.

"You always say, there's no mission impossible for the Turks," answered Reno, confidently. "I'm fine."

Sector 7's Emergency Plate Release System was a bomb mechanism that was installed on a high steel tower by the Sector 7 Pillar. Tseng had planned this particular location to be the first stop, where Reno would hop onto the tower and activate the EPRS, hopefully unseen. With the 20-minute bomb set, the Turks would then fly over to the Sector 5 slums to track down Aerith; Tseng was hoping to make the capture.

The deadlier mission, though disturbing, was far from what anyone would describe as 'difficult', since all Reno had to do was push a button on the EPRS to activate it. Though he sounded rather confident about it, his body started to tremble lightly when the helicopter entered the Sector 7 boundary, the massive pillar standing in the distance. This mission was going to leave at least half a million civilians dead, and for Reno and the Turks, there was no turning back.

However, something did not seem right when the steel tower came into view.

"What... the hell?" questioned Tseng as he pointed ahead at the steel tower, the helicopter still in motion. When Reno and Rude looked ahead, they noticed a small crowd of Shinra patrols on the top platform of the tower where the EPRS was located. Most of them lied beaten on the catwalk while a few others were clearly in combat with someone. As the helicopter got closer to the tower, it became visibly evident that the patrols were battling a dark-skinned man.

"Hell no."

"AVALANCHE?" wondered Reno, his face close to the windshield. "Yep, the guy with the gun-arm..."

"How does AVALANCHE know about Shinra's plans?" asked Tseng, a question that had no answer. "Rude, circle the platform," he ordered. "I need time to decide what to do next."

"Roger."

While Reno stalked the gun-armed man through a pair of binoculars, Rude piloted the helicopter high around the tower, a seemingly safe distance from the action. Unfortunately, it didn't take long for the bullets to find their way to them, hitting the back of the aircraft and causing it to shake entirely.

"Shit! He saw us!" yelled Reno in excitement and terror. "Chief, what's next?"

"Should we airstrike?" asked Rude.

"Just to get one crazy man? He's all by himself, dude," yapped Reno, looking through the binoculars once more. Suddenly, he saw two more people climbing up a set of stairs and eventually making their way onto the catwalk. "Forget what I just said," the redhead reported, "Two people came up the stairs and the dude's got backup now."

"...Cloud Strife is there?"

"Damn, partner! I didn't even notice. And the third AVALANCHE member is a girl?"

"Yes, those are the three AVALANCHE goons..." sighed Tseng. The only option now was to commit. "Here's the plan," he announced in a bold voice. "Reno, I want you to quickly jump off and activate the Emergency Plate Release System. Rude and I will leave you there as we head over to Sector 5. See that hanging wire on the railing, in front of the mechanism? Use that and you'll be taken straight to Sector 6. However, do fight back if AVALANCHE attacks, keeping in mind that this is a 20-minute bomb and that we have plenty of time... but if anything goes wrong, send us a quick call and we will come immediately."

"Sounds good," agreed Rude, while Reno took longer to process all that quick thinking by Tseng.

He then stood up and nodded, a more serious look on his face. "Leave it to me," he nodded.

"Then good luck."

Taking his EMR, Reno hopped on the helicopter's side-carriage platform and waited to get close to the tower. He was greeted by more gunshots as the helicopter approached the circular catwalk, the Emergency Plate Release System located right in the center of it and embedded on a wall. His eyes narrowed when the time came, and with his EMR in one hand, he took one last breath before swinging out of the helicopter, making a perfect landing next to the EPRS mechanism. However, before Reno could even get his hands on it, he found himself immediately surrounded by the three AVALANCHE members.

"You're too late. Once I push this button...", Reno warned AVALANCHE, and without hesitation he pressed the activation button on the EPRS. "That's all, folks! Mission accomplished!" he said sarcastically. The mechanism beeped, signaling the start of the 20-minute time bomb.

"We have to disarm it!" the girl screamed. "Cloud! Barret! Please!"

"I can't have you do that." Reno glanced at the girl before turning to Cloud and the dark-skinned man he now knew was named Barret. It was time for battle. "No one gets in the way of Reno and the Turks..."

There was a brief pause between Reno and AVALANCHE before Barret began firing at him with his gun-arm. Though about half of the bullets pierced through his uniform, Reno kept his composure as he swiftly leaped over the female fist-fighter when she charged at him. Using his EMR, he cast an invisible barrier in front of him and started ripping thunder at his opponents, causing the girl, who was called Tifa by Cloud, to spasm in pain as the electricity ripped through her bare stomach. Trusting his speed and agility to dodge Cloud's broadsword slashes and Barret's shots, Reno switched between leaping on and off the surrounding girders, attacking only when he had created enough space between himself and his opponents. Unfortunately, Tifa intercepted him every time he tried getting near the hanging wire, and eventually he was manhandled and slammed to the floor with Cloud charging and preparing to unleash a powerful attack.

Reno was left in serious agony as the blade slashed through his upper left rib cage, and suddenly the 1-on-3 disadvantage started to take over. Trying to hide his pain, Reno lied on the floor for a second before performing an acrobatic kip-up, a few drops of blood escaping his chest when he did so. He had curing magic but was never good at casting it effectively, having always relied on Rude to cure him whenever his health ran low. Despite this, Reno was competent enough to keep going thanks to his excellent resiliency, and as soon as he returned to his feet, he resumed his little game of attack and keep-away, ignoring AVALANCHE's screams for him to surrender.

* * *

Meanwhile, Rude had dropped Tseng off at Sector 5 between Aerith's house and the Sector 5 Church. Tseng sighed in worry for Reno as he jogged down the familiar paths of the slums, the usual cluster of buildings coming into view as he turned a corner to Aerith's house. Though he was able to let her live free for over 12 years, he had always known that his relationship with her would end this way. He had reminded himself many times that doing this was no longer only for Shinra's good, but for his own also.

When Tseng arrived at the entrance of Aerith's house, he took a few deep breaths before walking to the door, hoping that she was inside. Hesitant to ring the doorbell, he glanced through the closed windows on the wall, trying to see whether or not the lights inside were turned on. Lost in his musings, Tseng took a few steps back and looked around the area for a second time. Coincidentally when he looked left, Tseng saw Aerith from a short distance away, walking towards him with a little girl he had never seen before. Realizing that that she and the little girl were headed home in his direction, Tseng quickly sneaked behind some of the flowers in her garden, expecting the two to stop at the door. When the time came, he got up and slowly crept behind Aerith, inch by inch all the way to her home.

"Aerith," Tseng called out.

Aerith flinched and turned around when she heard his voice. "Tseng?" she responded, her voice soft.

"I... I need to talk to you, privately."

Confused, Aerith stared at Tseng for a moment before looking down at the little girl. "I'm going to take her inside first," she whispered, a tint of worry in her emerald green eyes. "It'll be a few minutes. Just wait here, OK?"

Tseng nodded as the two went inside, the door slowly closing on him. He took his PHS out and called Rude. "Go to Aerith's house. I found her," he reported as he dug his left hand in his pocket, feeling the clinking metal rings that he had brought along for this mission.

When the door opened after three minutes, Tseng got a nice, close look of Aerith's face as their eyes met each other, his right hand sneakily moving towards hers. Before she could even react, he grabbed her wrist and swung her around forcefully, while taking out a pair of handcuffs with his other hand. Immediately and with a rare smile, he cuffed her wrists together behind her back. The whole procedure took just five seconds.

"Ah! Wh-what are you doing?!" shrieked Aerith as she moved around helplessly, her back turned to Tseng.

"We've put this off long enough," Tseng said as he heard the sound of an arriving helicopter. "Shinra needs you, and you're coming with me."

"B-but, no! Please!"

"You have the right to remain silent."

Holding her arms tightly, Tseng walked Aerith towards the helicopter that had arrived by her home. Behind him he heard the voice of her adoptive mother, Elmyra Gainsborough, crying and shouting at him to return her daughter. There was really no turning back now. The side-carriage platform of the helicopter opened automatically as it made a soft landing to the ground, and without any hesitation, Tseng shoved Aerith into the carriage before hopping aboard and locking its door shut.

"Chief, we have to go back to Sector 7," informed Rude as soon as Tseng got inside the helicopter. "Reno might be in trouble."

Tseng nodded as he looked at his watch. "Still nine minutes until the bombs go. Let's go."

As the helicopter began to ascend, he glanced over his shoulder to see Aerith out on the side-carriage platform, facing the ground.

* * *

Reno felt a few fractured ribs in his body and a considerable amount of blood loss. The battle between him and AVALANCHE had gone for eleven minutes already, and though there was pain in every muscle in his body, he still had the energy and courage to keep pushing. He was thankful to know more of the current situation than AVALANCHE, as he knew exactly why he was fighting them and what he was fighting for, whereas AVALANCHE probably had no idea that what Reno had activated was an actual time bomb.

As Reno shot yet another beam of electricity at Cloud, he felt his PHS vibrate and saw the Turks' helicopter come into view, hovering a few feet below the catwalk. All he had to do now was flee, but realizing that he had saved enough energy to unleash a final attack, he waited a bit longer before firing an electroprod at Barret and Tifa, paralyzing them temporarily and giving him some extra space to run.

"Fucking jackass!" screamed Barret.

"It's time," Reno muttered to himself as he took one final glimpse at his watch; there were still three minutes remaining. He smirked at AVALANCHE for the last time before sprinting off, jumping over the railing and into the side-carriage platform of the helicopter.

Reno heard Aerith gasp when he dropped right beside her. He chuckled at her in pain as he began crawling towards the door, noticing Tseng standing in front of him when he looked up.

"I have a few words to say to AVALANCHE," announced Tseng, stepping over Reno as he walked onto the side-carriage platform.

"Cloud! I don't know how to stop this! Try it!" he heard Tifa shout as the helicopter ascended above the catwalk. When the three AVALANCHE members came into view, Tseng saw the girl mashing random buttons on the EPRS mechanism, with Cloud watching beside her.

"It's not a normal time bomb," said Cloud as he examined the device.

"That's right," yelled Tseng from above, the helicopter hovering in the air. "You'll have a hard time disarming that one. It'll blow the second some stupid jerk touches it."

"Please, stop it!" pleaded Tifa.

"Ha ha ha..." taunted Tseng, a rare laugh. "Only a Shinra Executive can set up or disarm the Emergency Plate Release System."

"Shut yer hole!" barked Barret as he began firing at the helicopter.

"I wouldn't try that..." shrugged Tseng, unperturbed by the incoming bullets. Instead, he looked down at Aerith and smiled. "You just might make me injure our special guest." Without hesitation, Tseng walked a few steps towards Aerith and pulled her into the scene, revealing her to the AVALANCHE members.

"Aerith!" yelled Tifa, the first of the three to react.

"Oh, you know each other?" jeered Tseng, pretending to act surprised. "How nice you could see each other one last time. You should thank me."

"What are you gonna do with Aerith?" asked Cloud.

"I haven't decided," mocked Tseng, again shrugging his shoulders. "Our orders were to catch the last remaining Ancient. It has taken us a long time, but now I can finally report this to the President."

"Tifa, don't worry! She's alright!" screamed Aerith as she lightly shoved Tseng while on her knees. Caught in the moment, Tseng proceeded to slap her across the face, so suddenly and violently that she fell over.

"Aerith!" Tifa screamed in horror.

"Hurry and get out!" shouted Aerith.

"Ha ha ha..." chuckled Tseng, and for a moment he thought to himself exactly why he hit her. Looking at his watch, he noticed that only 15 seconds were remaining in the Emergency Plate Release System. "Well, it should be starting right about now," he warned them. "Think you can escape in time?"

Rude began piloting the helicopter towards Sector 6 as the timer on the EPRS hit 00:00, triggering multiple explosions instantly within the enormous Sector 7 Pillar. The entire structure weakened immediately as bits of its pieces started to crumble, large chunks of loose concrete falling to the ground. As the rubble began to pile up from the bottom, massive fireballs formed on the outside of the pillar as an uncountable number of bombs continued to explode one by one, creating boisterous disharmony to the entire Sector 7 population just minutes before their very deaths.

Eventually all the support that held the entire upper plate was no more, as it started to slowly descend with the pillar itself. Roads and buildings disintegrated slightly in a terrifying earthquake-like form as the connecting steel wires snapped instantly, the falling plate gathering downward speed towards the slums. The people on the upper plate stood in intense horror while those in the slums could only see the ceiling come crashing down, about to crush them and reduce them into mere flesh, along with all the houses and buildings that were built only to be destroyed at once.

The Turks' helicopter flew back towards Sector 0 as the upper plate of Sector 7 finally struck the ground, a powerful, echoing bang spreading throughout the entire city of Midgar. Screams of people from other Sectors even thousands of feet below could be heard in the background of the colliding noise that lasted for as long as two minutes.

Sector 7, once one of Midgar's populating subcities, was now nothing more than dead people and an enormous pile of debris.

* * *

 _ **A/N:** This is the scene in FFVII where Sector 7 gets destroyed and Aerith gets captured._


	6. Chapter 6 - Hojo's Gift

**Before Crisis 2: The Crisis** by Jescii

 _The events of FFVII told from the Turks' POV. I do not own the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII or any of its characters. The credit goes to Square Enix._

* * *

 **Chapter 6** \- Hojo's Gift

 **December 11th [ ν ] - εγλ 0007, 6:15 PM**

It had been just two minutes since the collapse of Sector 7; Tseng and Rude stood silently on the helipad of the Shinra Building, waiting for Reno to get out of the helicopter. The redhead was literally crawling his way out after sustaining brutal injuries in the mission on the hands of AVALANCHE, and even then he still refused help from his two companions. In front of Tseng and Rude stood Aerith Gainsborough, the last remaining Cetra who had been captured as part of another mission.

"Reno... can you stand up?" Tseng requested as the redhead finally made it to the ground. There was blood all over his chest and some huge bruises on his right cheek.

"Ugh... give me a break, dude," groaned Reno as he slowly got to his feet. "Fuck."

"Sorry I forgot to bring materia," apologized Rude.

Tseng turned to him. "Go get a wheelchair and take him to the medical room, immediately," he ordered. "I'll take Aerith... to the President."

"Yes sir."

"Well then... let's get going, shall we, Aerith?"

Tseng smiled nervously as he and Aerith started their walk towards the indoors. They were now on their way to the President's office on Floor 70, which was one level below the helipad. Tseng, however, did not expect this short walk to feel so suddenly sick and awkward between himself and Aerith. Part of him wanted to apologize and explain to her why he had to capture her, while the other wanted to forget and separate her from himself as quickly as possible. He was too stunned by the recent events to think of anything to say to her, and the future event of bringing her to Professor Hojo completely drained him emotionally.

The entire 70th floor of the Shinra Building was dedicated to President Shinra, and when Tseng and Aerith arrived to his office, they saw him sitting in his usual, throne-like chair with a tall cup of tea on his desk. The three SOLDIERs that had accompanied Tseng stepped aside as he and Aerith walked onto the decorated red carpet, approaching the President with every step.

"Brilliant, yes, brilliant," said the President as he stared down Aerith in pure awe. "Finally, you get the job done."

"..."

"And the fall of Sector 7... brilliant!" he continued, a huge grin on his face. "I saw it from up here and enjoyed every second of it.

"So it was your idea!" snapped Aerith, in a furious tone Tseng had never heard before. "How can you do this to the people of Sector 7?!"

"Ha ha ha... brainwashed civilians like you already know that this was all AVALANCHE's fault," scoffed the President. "And Shinra continues to do the right thing... to clean up all the mess that this... that this vermin AVALANCHE made in the last several days. AVALANCHE... they were nothing but terrorist scum who had absolutely no purpose for their ridiculous actions, to kill countless of innocent people, and to destroy our precious Mako Reactors day in and day out. It was so nice to finally see the end of them."

The President showed a distasteful look on his face when he described AVALANCHE. But after saying the last statement, that look quickly turned into another menacing smirk.

"AVALANCHE gone and the Ancient captured," the President went on, now facing Tseng. "I am glad to learn that the Turks were able to succeed, finally. Now we can proceed to our plans and seek the legendary Promised Land... and from there we will build Neo-Midgar with confidence. Remember now, that this is only the beginning of Shinra's rise to pure dominance and control over the world. Take that Ancient to Hojo, immediately."

"Yes sir," agreed Tseng, reluctantly.

* * *

Meanwhile, Rude stood inside a private medical room on Floor 48, waiting for a doctor to tend to Reno. For the moment the redhead had his chest and face covered in towels and was lying in the hospital bed.

"This won't fix you... but the pain relief is worth it," said Rude, handing Reno a Cure materia which he had taken from the medical kit. Though it was impossible for curing magic to heal up wounds and broken bones, the spell provided instant pain relief that helped users last a much longer time during and after battle.

"It's not gonna help," whined Reno as he reached for the materia anyway.

"So Sector 7 is gone..." came out a voice from behind. It was a voice that both Rude and Reno recognized, and when Rude turned around he saw Reeve Tuesti entering the medical room. Reeve was Shinra's Head of Urban Development and one of the few executives who had a neutral relationship with the Turks. He glimpsed at Rude momentarily as he approached his side, before looking down to face the injured Reno. "What happened?" he asked.

Rude glanced around the room to make sure no one else was in it, since only the executives were to know that Shinra was responsible for the Sector 7 attack. "AVALANCHE tried to stop Reno from activating the Emergency Plate Release System at the Sector 7 Pillar," he explained in a monotonous voice. "They tried to save the civilians, and failed... but not before they gave Reno some kind of... beating."

"I see," nodded Reeve, a worried look on his face. "I tried to protest to the President about all this..." he continued. "But Heidegger and Scarlet, all the executives... I guess I was alone."

"You're not alone," corrected Rude as two doctors came in the room. "We had no choice."

Reeve sighed. "I have a meeting to attend later tonight," he paused when one of the doctors squeezed between him and Rude to examine Reno. "As the Head of Urban Development, it is my responsibility to estimate the damage costs... to rebuild Sector 7."

When Reeve left the room, the two doctors had already started an X-ray inspection on Reno. They were Shinra's top medical physicians who most often treated high-ranking troops and SOLDIERs; treating an injured Turk was a rarity these days due to the exclusive membership in the organization.

"Hey, uh... Reno?" called Rude as he read the time on his watch. "I'm going now. See you later."

* * *

December 11th, 0007 had unofficially been marked as the deadliest day in the history of recorded history. The Turks had unwillingly proven their loyalty to the President by finally capturing Aerith, the last remaining Cetra in the world. They had destroyed the entire town of Sector 7, killing millions of civilians as a result and reducing everything into mere bits and rubble. Courtesy of Shinra News, AVALANCHE was announced to be presumed dead, yet responsible for the attack on Sector 7.

However, the time was still 6:45 PM and the 11th of December was still far from over. Tseng stood outside the science lab on Floor 67 and was looking on at Aerith and Professor Hojo from a distance. He had truly done it; he had given a woman whom he loved and had known for 12 years to a mad scientist who cared about no one but himself and his cruel experiments. In a test pod close to Aerith, Tseng caught an eye of a fire-red, feline-like mammal that was also being held captive by Hojo.

Installed across the test pod was an unusually sealed container, which inside it lived the final remains of Jenova, an ancient, extraterrestrial life-form that was used to create human hybrids and monsters. The naked, humanoid female figure had open sores and torn limbs on her pink headless body and was submerged in a thick red fluid, with loose pieces of her tissue-like skin floating around the outside.

"Jenova..." whispered Tseng. It had been a while since he had seen such creature.

* * *

 _ **A/N:** Immediate aftermath of Sector 7's collapse from the Turks' point of view._


	7. Chapter 7 - Nibelheim Flashback

**Before Crisis 2: The Crisis** by Jescii

 _The events of FFVII told from the Turks' POV. I do not own the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII or any of its characters. The credit goes to Square Enix._

* * *

 **Chapter 7** \- Nibelheim Flashback

 **December 11th [ ν ] - εγλ 0007, 7:00 PM**

The still, terrifying image of Jenova blurred in Tseng's mind as he returned to his office. Though there were no personal connections between himself and Jenova, he knew a lot of her purpose and history with Shinra, ever since she was rediscovered by the company's scientists. Tseng was able to recall most of the experiments Hojo had performed using her cells; it mainly consisted of creating monsters and turning humans into some kind of super-soldier with enhanced abilities. Those treated with Jenova cells proved to be powerful warriors, which led to them becoming members of Shinra's elite fighting force, SOLDIER.

It had been five years since the remains of Jenova were shipped from Nibelheim to Midgar, and sealed in Hojo's lab in the Shinra Headquarters. This was following an incident when a certain SOLDIER learned of his true Jenova origins for the first time, thus betraying the company in the process. That SOLDIER, named Sephiroth, was created by Hojo to be the "perfect monster" but until that day he was never told of his role in the experiment, which involved direct infusion of Jenova cells to a host before he was born. After learning of his origins during a mission with fellow SOLDIER member Zack Fair, Sephiroth turned into sheer madness and burned the entire town of Nibelheim to the ground. Shortly after the disaster, he took a portion of Jenova from her chamber before presumably falling to his death into the Mako of the Nibel Reactor.

The next morning, Tseng, the Turks, and Shinra's Investigation Unit flew to Nibelheim to dispose of the town and possibly locate missing SOLDIER Zack, or any troops who had taken part in the mission. When they arrived to the Nibel Reactor, however, the entrance was packed with members of Shinra's Science Department under the command of Hojo. Professor Hojo had immediately come up with plans of which only he and the executives knew of, and as the confused members of the Investigation Unit glanced around the area, Tseng managed to spot a beaten Zack and a blond-haired infantryman, both of whom were being carried away on stretchers by the lab assistants.

"Excuse me," he remembered saying to one of the scientists. "What's... what's going on?"

"Oh, Mr... Tseng?" responded the scientist. "Professor Hojo is looking for test subjects for his new experiment. He's thinking of calling it... the Jenova Reunion Theory."

"...Jenova Reunion Theory?" Tseng raised a brow. "What is it?"

"Yes." The scientist pointed ahead at Zack and the infantryman. "See those soldiers over there? Hojo's especially interested in these guys."

"What's this experiment about?"

"Can't say in full detail, but it's obviously got something to do with Jenova cells... specifically, Sephiroth's genes."

"Where is Hojo?" asked Tseng as he saw Zack being carried out of sight.

"In the containment room."

The containment room was a Mako laboratory that led to the entrance of Jenova's Chamber, a red door separating the rooms with the name "JENOVA" written on top of it. A tall set of stairs was present before the door, and on each side were multiple rows and columns of large, oval-shaped pods with installed glass windows on each one, steams of Mako fuming out of the vent holes. After squeezing his way through a crowd of Shinra workers, Tseng took a deep breath before proceeding into the room, believing that Zack had been taken to the same place.

In the containment room, the first thing Tseng saw was Hojo standing in the near background, a group of lab assistants surrounding him. As he walked closer, he then noticed Hojo examining the stretchered Zack, with the blond infantryman resting a few feet away. Both men were severely wounded and had apparently been put to sleep; Tseng had never seen his colleague down in such a vulnerable state. He couldn't think of any words to describe the poor condition of Zack and the blond infantryman.

"This one..." Tseng heard Hojo speak to the two lab assistants, who were carrying Zack. "Take him down to the Shinra Mansion's basement."

"Yes sir," said the lab assistants as they began carrying Zack away. Tseng got a close look of Zack for the final time as he and the assistants crossed paths.

"Sephiroth... you have really done it this time!" scoffed Hojo in a sinister tone, before turning to face Tseng. "Oh, it's you," he barked. "Is Mr. Veld doing well?"

"Yes sir," nodded Tseng.

"I see," smirked Hojo as he turned away from him. "And how is the disposal of the town doing?"

"We have already begun the operations, but..." Tseng paused when he saw the blond infantryman being carried towards Hojo. "Sir, is there a need to go this far?" he asked.

"Ha, you are still with Reeve," mocked Hojo blindly, his voice sharp. "Your opinion in this matter means nothing to me! Hurry up with the disposal," he demanded as the infantryman arrived. "Hmm... just a sec." Without looking back, Hojo stepped away from Tseng to take a glimpse at the bloodied teenager. "This guy finished Sephiroth. Interesting. It really is interesting! He'll make a fine test subject!"

Disgusted, Tseng shook his head and sighed before walking away.

Four years after, Zack and the blond infantryman managed to escape Shinra Mansion alive but were eventually gunned down by soldiers before the Turks could save them. Later that evening, the Turks were able to locate Zack's body in the Midgar Wastelands; however, the other fugitive was nowhere to be found.

 _And the blond infantryman's name... was Cloud Strife._

Coincidentally, Zack was Aerith's boyfriend, and before heading to Nibelheim he had entrusted Tseng to look after her. Tseng had never bothered telling Aerith about the death of Zack, and just two months later with his own life on the line, he captured her and brought her into Shinra, seemingly breaking her boyfriend's promise.

Tseng moaned silently as he flipped through the records of the infamous Nibelheim Incident; there was a photo of Sephiroth on one page, and the fugitives Zack and Cloud on another. Beside the book were two bowls of unfinished soup and rice; he had just had dinner but was unable to consume even half of it. After all that revision, the time was still 8:45 PM on December 11, the same day the entire population of Sector 7 was destroyed by himself and the Turks.

Suddenly, his PHS buzzed.

"Tseng speaking," he answered, dryly.

"Sir, we have an emergency," called out a female voice.

"What is it?"

"We have unidentified people on Floor 65."

Tseng's eyes lit up. "Okay... how many of them are there? And what are they wearing?"

"So there are two guys and one girl," the reporter explained. "The girl wears white. One of the guys is dark-skinned and has a gun grafted on his arm. The last one is light-skinned and has blond hair."

Tseng flinched and then froze as he comprehended the details. "Is the blond-haired man carrying a sword?" he asked.

"Um... yes."

"No way," Tseng whispered to himself as a suspicious picture formed in his mind. "It's AVALANCHE," he told her.

"Wh-what?!" she screamed, her voice shrill and scared. "What are they doing here!?"

Although he was as surprised as she was, Tseng still tried to calm her. "Don't worry," he said. "I'll report to the President immediately. In the meantime, make the urgent announcement over the PA to notify everyone in the Shinra Building that we have intruders on Floor 65."

"Y-yes sir..."

"If anything else comes up, just call."

"Okay."

As soon as the call ended, Tseng went on to call Rude. Somehow, someway, AVALANCHE managed to escape Sector 7 before its Plate collapsed, and now according to surveillance cameras, they had found their way inside the Shinra Building, prepared to launch another deadly attack on the company. AVALANCHE themselves knew who was truly responsible for dropping the Sector 7 Plate, and having escaped alive and now nearing the top of the building, this was certainly not good news for Shinra.

"...Sir?" Rude's voice came out through the PHS. He answered in a tone heavier than normal, as if he was gasping for air.

"Rude, where are you now?" asked Tseng, noting the clinking noise in the background.

"...The gym."

"We have an emergency," came the urgent response. "I have just been told by a surveillance supervisor that AVALANCHE has been sighted on Floor 65."

As usual, the skinhead took some time to think of an answer. "Hmm..."

"That's right," added Tseng. "Cloud and the others are in the building. We need to track them down."

"...How did they get past Floor 59?" asked Rude in a now-calm voice.

"No clue."

"Does the President know?"

"He and the executives have a meeting now," explained Tseng, standing up when he did so. "They will be notified immediately by an announcement. Meanwhile, we can try locating AVALANCHE while the surveillance keeps us updated."

"Yes sir."

"Let's meet up outside of Reeve's office on Floor 65."

"I'll be right there."

When the second call ended, Tseng exited his office and headed straight towards the elevators. Then came the emergency announcement, which was made throughout the entire building over a public address system. With AVALANCHE back and now their own company at risk, it was again the Turks' responsibility to set things right.

* * *

 _ **A/N:** Summarized Nibelheim Incident from the Tseng's point of view. Part of it is from the film Last Order: FFVII._


	8. Chapter 8 - AVALANCHE: Resurgence

**Before Crisis 2: The Crisis** by Jescii

 _The events of FFVII told from the Turks' POV. I do not own the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII or any of its characters. The credit goes to Square Enix._

* * *

 **Chapter 8** \- AVALANCHE: Resurgence

 **December 11th [ ν ] - εγλ 0007, 9:00 PM**

Shinra soldiers and security robots had started a manhunt for AVALANCHE.

Meanwhile, Tseng and Rude gathered outside of Reeve's office to plan their own search for the three eco-terrorists. Floor 65 was home to Shinra's Urban Development, and despite the current uproar that was happening inside the building, this floor appeared to be totally empty, much like the Turks' home on Floor 58. To assist in their search for AVALANCHE, Tseng and Rude had brought along a pair of surveillance watches, in which their purpose was to detect any nearby life signs within the Shinra Headquarters.

"One of our employees must have given them a keycard," uttered Rude, as he wandered around a narrow corridor of offices. "Otherwise, there's no way they could have made it past here."

"Even with keycards," replied Tseng in a monotone voice. He glanced at his surveillance watch. "It's impressive for them to get this far... past all the security..."

Rude adjusted his sunglasses and sighed. As much respect as he and Tseng had for each other, any conversation between the two had always been hollow. "No one here, as always," he said, breaking the silence. "They must be on the next floor."

There was another quiet pause before Tseng entered the middle room of Floor 65. This room was prominent for having an impressive, scale replica of Midgar, which was used readily for urban planning and developing. The massive model clearly confirmed the depiction of Midgar's circular, pizza-like shape, being divided equally into eight sectors, with the Shinra Building in the center.

Tseng scanned his surveillance watch once more as he glanced around the empty room. When the device read no life signs, he turned around and faced Rude, who seemed slightly bored and unwilling to help, having his eyes glued to his phone. "How is Reno, by the way?" asked Tseng.

"A few fractured ribs, a couple gashes," rolled out Rude's quick response. "Nothing too serious."

Relieved, Tseng nodded and stood still for a while before a sudden vibration emerged from his pocket. It was his PHS, and immediately he had an idea of who was calling. "What is it?" he answered, raising the speaker's volume so Rude could listen in.

"Sir!" screamed the female voice. "AVALANCHE has invaded Hojo's lab on Floor 68!"

Tseng gasped upon hearing the report as Rude joined his side. "What did they do?" he asked.

"Um, some of the test pods..." she spoke in an uneasy voice, "...are broken, and the specimens that were inside have escaped. There are also dead monsters scattered around the area."

"Damn!" exclaimed Tseng. "We'll be there right away. Anything else?"

There was a slight pause for a brief moment, and all Tseng and Rude could hear was a conversation in the background. "I'm sorry," the woman apologized. "I was speaking to a lab assistant who witnessed the commotion. Anyway, he had to surrender another keycard to AVALANCHE, but it appears that they've headed downstairs. And to make matters worse, one of the escaped specimens, Red XIII, attacked Hojo during the mess and he has left with AVALANCHE."

Both Rude and Tseng couldn't help but smile when the reporter mentioned Red XIII, thinking that Hojo deserved it. "We'll do our best and capture them before any further damage is done," said Tseng.

"Okay, thanks!"

The call ended with the two Turks facing eye-to-sunglasses, nodding at each other and knowing that they were in this together. They had not contacted the President nor Heidegger since early evening, but were well aware that they knew what the Turks must do to try winning them back.

"Should we split up?" asked Rude.

"Go search on Floor 66," was Tseng's order, and immediately Rude began making his way towards the staircase. "I'm headed for 67."

* * *

When they reached the staircase, Tseng and Rude climbed one level of stairs before parting ways; Rude stopped and entered the door to Floor 66 ahead while Tseng continued up another set of steps. Floor 66 of the Shinra Building contained the conference room and offices for the top executives, with Heidegger being one of them. The floor above it, 67, was the headquarters for Shinra's Science Department, led by Professor Hojo, which contained several prison cells along with a small elevator for specimen transport to Floor 68, the main laboratory.

The first thing Tseng heard when he reached Floor 67 was the sound of a woman's scream. He sensed that it had come from the left, and immediately he ran towards the hallway corner to follow the echoing sound. When he turned into the main hall, the next thing he saw was a group of Shinra security surrounding two struggling women, who had been brought down to the floor. Tseng's eyes lit up when he noticed that Aerith was one of the women, while the other was her friend Tifa, the female AVALANCHE member who he encountered earlier at the Sector 7 Pillar. _Did they come all the way here to save Aerith?_ he wondered to himself.

"Ugh! Let me go!" screamed Tifa as she struggled to fight off the security. She was outnumbered 6-to-1 and had no choice but to surrender, while Aerith lied face-down on the floor and had already been handcuffed to the ground.

"Hey," Tseng called out, nodding in appreciation as he approached the six guards. He never thought that he would ever see Aerith again, let alone on the same day. The guards ceased momentarily and turned when they heard the Turk's voice. "Um... uh... good job," mumbled Tseng. "Take, uh, Aerith, I mean, her to the prison cell, immediately," he ordered, fumbling on his words again. He then faced Tifa. "And this brat... I'm sure the President would like to see her. Do you know where the others went?"

"No sir," responded one of the guards.

When Tseng saw two of the guards take Aerith away, he again couldn't help but feel his heart crumble slightly. But now wasn't the time to feel emotional. Instead, he returned his attention to Tifa. "Where did Cloud and the other guy go?" he asked her.

"I'm not going to tell you, asshole," she spat back, still restrained by the guards.

Disgusted by her response, Tseng inched towards Tifa and pounded her hard in the stomach with a knee. When she continued to growl back, he pounded her again, five times more before taking out his pistol and holding her at gunpoint. "Where did they go?" he demanded.

"Okay, okay!" she groaned helplessly at last. "We were supposed... to meet at the 66th floor elevator..."

Tseng faced the guards. "Take her to the President," he said with his PHS taken out. "I'm going downstairs."

* * *

Rude hurried down the large corridor of offices on Floor 66, eventually reaching the main hallway. He had just been notified by Tseng that Cloud and the others were headed for the elevators, and that they were to be sent to the President's office on Floor 70.

The main hallway was crowded with alerted soldiers and guards, who wandered around cautiously having the same objective in mind. The executives' conference room was located in the center of the hallway, with the elevator room directly south of it.

When Rude stepped into the room of elevators, he saw the two AVALANCHE members and Hojo's specimen walk into one of the doors. This specimen was the fire-red, feline-like mammal that Tseng saw earlier in the evening. Knowing that this was an unmissable golden opportunity, Rude rushed towards the nearest call button and pushed it just as the door closed, reopening it before the elevator could start moving. He cleared his throat before entering the door to confront Cloud.

Cloud, Barret, and Red XIII all turned around when the door reopened. "H-hey! What is it?" said Cloud, flinching when he saw the tall Turk towering over him.

"Would you press 'Up', please?" asked Rude, sarcastically.

"Turks? Must be a trap..." Cloud gulped, and before he and the others could think of their next move, Tseng walked inside with a pistol in his hand. Behind him stood a small team of Shinra soldiers.

"Shit," snapped Barret, realizing that his group was now cornered.

"This must have been a real thrill for you..." said Tseng as he calmly lowered his pistol. "Did you enjoy it?"

"Ggh..."

While Rude picked up a pair of handcuffs, Tseng raised his pistol and threatened to shoot Barret. Eventually, he and Cloud had their hands and feet bound, with no choice but to follow under the Turks' command. Red XIII also had nowhere to go but to accompany them up the elevator to Floor 69. From there, the Turks collected Tifa before leading AVALANCHE and Red XIII up the last staircase to Floor 70. With Tseng in the back, the soon-to-be prisoners followed Rude in a single file, all the way to the large office dedicated to President Shinra.

In the space ahead, the Turks had the handcuffed AVALANCHE members line up in front of the President, who was waiting comfortably in his throne chair. Cloud, Barret, and Tifa took a step forward to confront him, while Red XIII stood close behind next to Tseng and Rude.

Cloud looked around the room when he noticed someone was missing. "Where is Aerith!?" he demanded.

The President smiled at Cloud from his seat and replied, "In a safe place." He then got out of his chair and walked along the side of his desk. "She's the last surviving Ancient... don't you know? They called themselves the Cetra, and lived thousands of years ago. Now they are just a forgotten page in history."

"Cetra..." Red XIII spoke up. Although he was a feline-like mammal, his species was as intelligent as the humans with the ability to talk. "That girl, is she a survivor of the Cetra?"

The President nodded as he made his way in front of AVALANCHE. "Cetra, or the Ancients will show us the way to the 'Promised Land,'" he continued on, "I'm expecting a lot out of her."

"The Promised Land?" wondered Red XIII. "Isn't that just a legend?"

"Even so, it's just too appealing to not to pursue," the President replied as he stared down Tifa. "It's been said the Promised Land is very fertile," he explained with a pause. "And if the land is fertile..."

"Then there's gotta be Mako!" shouted Barret.

The President turned to Barret and agreed. "Exactly. That is why our money-sucking Mako Reactors are a necessity," he closed his eyes and grinned at the ceiling. "The abundant Mako will just come out on its own. That is where Neo-Midgar will be built. Shinra's new glory..."

"Fuck! Quit dreamin'!" spat Barret.

"Oh really, don't you know? These days, all it takes for your dreams to come true is money and power," the President glanced at his watch. "Well, I've wasted enough time. That is all for our meeting. Tseng, send them to the prison block on Floor 67."

Tseng nodded. "Yes sir."

When AVALANCHE and Red XIII hesitated to move, Rude ran in front of them and stood beside the President. "Come on! Outta his way!" he yelled.

Having no choice, Cloud, Tifa, and Red XIII turned around to follow Tseng, as well as three Shinra soldiers who arrived at the scene. "Hold it!" screamed Barret, refusing to leave. "I got a lot I wanna say to you!" Just as he began waddling his way to the President, Rude pushed the big man back and escorted him down the stairs.

* * *

After an absolutely chaotic day that ended with AVALANCHE imprisoned, President Shinra couldn't be more relieved knowing that all war was over, and that he could now proceed to his long-awaited plan: to use Aerith and possibly seek the legendary Promised Land. With the Promised Land believed to contain infinite amounts of Mako, the President envisioned to build a new version of Midgar inside it, fulfilling his lifelong dream of the Shinra Company's rise to a whole new level of control over the world.

However, as glad as President Shinra was to have AVALANCHE defeated, there was still one thing that bugged him. It was already past midnight when Tseng was interrupted again by the buzz of his PHS, just as both he and Rude were about to head back for a well-deserved goodnight's sleep.

"Yes?" answered Tseng, unwillingly.

"Tseng, the President is wondering..." Good grief, it was his boss Heidegger. "How did AVALANCHE know about our plans to destroy Sector 7?" he asked.

"No clue."

"Someone must have told them."

"Maybe."

"Well, the culprit, we believe, is Don Corneo of the Sector 6 slums," assumed Heidegger, maintaining his gruff voice. "That... bastard... is a Shinra informant who gave away sensitive info to AVALANCHE. Witness reports from Wall Market confirm our suspicions."

Tseng sighed silently. "I see."

"Corneo... he's going to get what he deserves. In order to protect our company and before he has any chance to flee the city... it is an absolute necessity for him to be captured immediately. This is why I am sending you and Rude to Sector 6... right now, to infiltrate Corneo's mansion, and to arrest that man."

"..."

"You've done well today... now go," demanded Heidegger. "Do this for the President."

"Yes sir."

"Goodnight. Gya haa haa!"

When the call ended, Tseng proceeded to inform Rude about the new mission. As much as he wanted to relax, he knew that he had no right to object to his boss. Day in and day out, this was what the Turks did. They were professionals who were all about adhering to the mission, no matter what.

* * *

 _ **A/N:** This is the scene in FFVII where Cloud, Barret, and Tifa intrude Shinra Building to rescue Aerith and Red XIII._


	9. Chapter 9 - The Silver-Haired Swordsman

**Before Crisis 2: The Crisis** by Jescii

 _The events of FFVII told from the Turks' POV. I do not own the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII or any of its characters. The credit goes to Square Enix._

* * *

 **Chapter 9** \- The Silver-Haired Swordsman

 **December 12th [ ν ] - εγλ 0007, 12:45 AM**

After a gruesome evening at the Shinra Building, the President and Heidegger had the Turks take on one last mission before finishing their day: Infiltrate the Don's mansion in Sector 6 and capture Don Corneo. Believing that Corneo had revealed to AVALANCHE the company's plans to destroy Sector 7, the President declared him as a wanted man who needed to be arrested for his deplorable actions.

Don Corneo's mansion was located north of Wall Market in the Sector 6 slums, and this was where Tseng and Rude stalled their helicopter to start the mission. Although it was quarter to one in the morning, the area around Wall Market was unsurprisingly dense in population, being filled with young adults and slum drunks often looking for trouble. The entire shopping center was unofficially ran by Don Corneo himself, the local crime lord who had successfully turned the market's atmosphere into one resembling a red-light district.

At the front entrance of the mansion, there stood two doormen waiting at a double-folding metal gate, the red building towering in the background. Not looking to waste any time, Tseng and Rude hustled down the pathway towards the gate, prepared to confront the guards.

"Hello, gentlemen..." greeted one of them, cautiously. His smile flipped upside-down when he noticed the Turk uniforms. "Uh, Turks? What are you doing here?"

"We are looking for Don Corneo. Is he inside?" asked Tseng, professionally.

"Shit, um..." came a mumble. "No, no. He's not inside."

"Let us in. Now," demanded Rude as he cracked his knuckles, causing both of the guards to flinch.

"This is an emergency," added Tseng.

"He's not inside! We swear!" worried the other guard, trying to act serious.

Unhappy with the response, Tseng sighed. "We're Shinra personnel here. If he's not inside, then where is he and what is he doing at one in the morning?"

"We... really don't know. He, uh, didn't say anything to us. We're just his lackeys, after all," answered the first guard."Besides, even if the Don was inside, we can't let any men in! He's not into them! That's the policy..."

Tseng and Rude had had enough of this nonsense. Eyeing one another for a second, the Turks gave a signal to each other before Rude proceeded to shove the first lackey against the gate, while Tseng pulled out a pistol and pointed it at the second lackey. Although both lackeys were armed and had weapons of their own, they knew that they were no match for the Turks. "Where... is... Corneo?" Rude asked menacingly.

"Okay! I'll tell you where he is!" cried the helpless young man. "He's already fled the city! But I don't know where; now please don't kill me! To prove it to you, we'll let you inside!"

"Why did he leave?"

"He didn't say!" he continued to wail. "But I heard from other guys that he wasn't happy about the intruders that came in earlier..."

"Intruders?"

"I don't know!"

Tseng lowered his pistol. "Really, that's all we need to know, but..." he sighed, pausing mid-sentence. "Rude, we're going inside."

When the gate finally unlocked, Rude released his powerful hold on the weakling before following Tseng to the front door of the mansion. At the front stood another armed doorman, but after witnessing what had just happened to his partners, he proceeded to open the door for the coming Turks. As a result, the Turks were let inside the mansion without further trouble.

"Anyone inside?" yelled Tseng as he and Rude walked in, immediately noticing the impressive decor that was displayed throughout the palace-like space. The main hallway had its floor and staircase carpeted with a thick red wool, while its walls were decorated with paintings representing the Wutai Gods, Leviathan, Da-Chao, and other ancient symbols. Each of the rooms were labeled with letters of the Wutai language, and bright red lanterns were present on top of the pillars that supported the structure of the mansion.

Although the lights of the main hallway were turned on, there didn't seem to be anyone inside. "Hello?" Tseng shouted again as he climbed the staircase to the second floor, with Rude following close behind.

Suddenly, a slim man appeared from one of the rooms. "Turks!" he squealed, immediately lowering his gun when he noticed. "What do you need?"

"Don Corneo's not here?" questioned Tseng, monotonously.

"No sir, he's out of town," replied the lackey. "Heard he wasn't happy about his position... whatever that was. We had intruders here earlier, but... I don't know, man. A bunch of our guys left with him, and now I'm here serving nobody."

"Show us his room," ordered Rude.

The guy just had to object. "But sir, if we do..."

"This is an emergency," interrupted Tseng, again bothered by the lackeys' stubbornness. "Or we'll drop you right now." As Don Corneo was supposedly allied with Shinra, his servants had no right to disrespect or delay the Turks this way.

"...OK, fine," the lackey whined, pointing ahead at the massive throne door. "Over there. Should be open."

Entering the room, the first thing that caught Rude's attention was its sickly-sweet smoking odor. As it was dark, the Turks flipped on the lights on their uniforms and looked around before heading for Don Corneo's desk in the center, a large folding screen behind it. Curious about what the screen was hiding, Rude walked towards it before knocking it over, revealing the Don's narrow bedroom, his king-sized bed covering nearly the entire space. As Rude searched the room for clues, Tseng examined the Don's desktop computer that was placed on the table.

"Chief," Rude called out, having found something. "All these photos on the wall... all women, dressed up or half-naked, ranging from childlike to near elderly. They're... his guests..." Although Rude had already known how gangster-like Corneo was, his investigation only confirmed it further: the Don was indeed an old, portly dictator who enjoyed the company of women, using lackeys to do the dirty work for him. "Do you think AVALANCHE..." the skinhead went on, but ceased his speech when Tseng entered the bedroom.

"I might have found something myself," uttered Tseng as he quickly glanced at the photos, "...on his computer."

"Hmm..."

Tseng pointed to the computer screen ahead as he and Rude returned to the previous room. Somehow, the Turk had managed to gain full access to Don Corneo's computer. Shown on the screen was a file window, portraying a list of photos taken and downloaded onto the computer, all of which were indexed in date order. "All the photos in order," Tseng stated as he scrolled down the window to see the latest downloaded file...

"!?"

Taken at 3:32 PM on December 11, the photo on the screen revealed three dressed-up women, lined up and facing the camera. It took a split-second for the Turks to identify two of the women, much to their surprise...

"Holy crap," exclaimed Tseng, his eyes glued to the brunette woman in the red dress. "That's Aerith... on the left."

"Tifa on the right?" Rude pointed out; she was wearing a blue sheath dress.

"Is Corneo working for AVALANCHE?" wondered Tseng. "Or..."

Rude shrugged his shoulders, unwilling to reply as he further examined the pic. "The one in the middle..." he said boldly. "That's not a woman. That's Cloud."

Tseng's eyes lit up. "No way they came here to receive help," he corrected himself. "Cloud, Aerith, and Tifa... these girls must be the intruders those lackeys mentioned. They came here to squeeze information out of Corneo."

"And that's why Corneo fled the city. He's guilty," added Rude.

"Yes, that sounds about right," Tseng agreed as he moved the cursor over to Cloud: the swordsman had put on makeup with his hair tied into a pigtail, but the most prominent feature was the purple one-piece dress he was wearing.

As this photo was an excellent find, Tseng grabbed out a USB drive from his pocket and plugged it onto the computer. He then saved a copy of this file onto the device, knowing that he and Rude were sure to include that in their reports.

"So with Corneo gone, there's no point to continue this mission," muttered Tseng, glancing over the time. It was 1:23 AM. "We should head back."

Rude nodded quietly as he wiped his sunglasses with a cloth. It had been a long day.

Suddenly, the brief silence between the two was pierced by the buzz of Tseng's PHS.

"This is Tseng speaking..." the Turk leader answered, rather hesitantly as Rude inched towards him.

"S-sir! We need your assistance!" cried out a sobbing female voice. "Shinra Building is under attack!"

Oh boy... "By who?" Tseng replied curiously, noting the intense noise level and screaming in the background.

"Floor 67, there... there's a s-silver-haired man with a sword..." the fidgety voice continued. "He could be one of our SOLDIERs, but I don't know for sure! He appeared out of nowhere... and... and he's destroying everyone on sight! We're hiding in the washroom so he doesn't freakin' kill us... please, please for Gaia's sake help us! We don't, we don't know what to do!"

Tseng and Rude gasped - first AVALANCHE and now more murders in the Shinra Building? "Oh no... the President's safety... is he protected?" wondered Tseng. "All staff in the Shinra Building must be notified immediately, and the army summoned to cease the attack!" he screamed as he followed Rude down the stairs to the exit. "Stay hidden. We'll be there as soon as possible!"

Unable to hear a response, Tseng turned off the PHS assuming that the conversation had ended. He then proceeded to call Heidegger, but with a feeling that he wouldn't pick up. As physically tired as Tseng and Rude were, that urgent, frightening call from the poor lady had them wide awake and prepared for another battle. They had already left the mansion and were sprinting back to the helicopter.

A minute later, Tseng and Rude had themselves buckled in their seats, ready to fly and return to the Shinra Building. It was that moment when another voice came through the PHS transceivers, just as the helicopter began to ascend.

"Tseng! Rude! It's Reeve," rolled out the recognizable voice."Return to the Shinra Headquarters immediately. Sephiroth has returned and he is on a rampage."

"...SEPHIROTH!?" the Turks barked in unison. _What?! Sephiroth is alive?_

"Yes, Sephiroth!" confirmed Reeve, his expression tense. "Since Heidegger seems to be sound asleep, I've taken his place and have called up soldiers to combat Sephiroth, to protect Shinra staff and most importantly, to protect the President. "

"Nicely done," appreciated Tseng, trying his best to keep calm. But his leg was shaking wildly. "Oh, god..."

Rude nodded slowly in anxiety. "We're on the way."

 **Sephiroth...** the ultimate SOLDIER and once-hero... _just how?_ Reborn for power, vengeance, and destruction...

* * *

 _ **A/N:** He's back! The Turks weren't present during the massacre!_


	10. Chapter 10 - Shinra Building Massacre

**Before Crisis 2: The Crisis** by Jescii

 _The events of FFVII told from the Turks' POV. I do not own the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII or any of its characters. The credit goes to Square Enix._

* * *

 **Chapter 10** \- Shinra Building Massacre

 **December 12th [ ν ] - εγλ 0007, 1:45 AM**

After spending the last hour in Sector 6 searching for Don Corneo, Tseng and Rude returned to Shinra Headquarters to respond to yet another emergency. It was half past one in the morning when reports came up about Sephiroth and that he was destroying everything on sight in the building. All lives of Shinra personnel were at stake, including the very President Shinra, whom the Turks and SOLDIERs had always successfully protected whenever he was in danger.

The sound of the emergency klaxon became louder as the Turks' helicopter descended toward the helipad. Red lights beamed in and outside the building, and as the Turks waited for the helicopter's safe landing, Rude put on a new pair of spiked gloves while Tseng disabled the motor and slowly unbuckled his seat belt.

"Let's go," Tseng delivered the signal before breaking out of the aircraft. He and Rude began jogging toward the stairs to the indoors, with their minds set on Floor 70. Ensuring the safety of President Shinra was their first priority, and fortunately his office was located just a staircase below the helipad.

When the Turks entered Floor 70 from outside, they were surprised to notice how empty it appeared during a time like this. The lights were turned on, and what struck them greatly were the trails of blood that spread around the main hallway. "What the...?" muttered Rude as he continued down the path of red liquid, which contrasted unpleasantly with the darker carpet. The blood became more dense as he and Tseng approached the President's desk, their anxieties and heart rates rising with every step.

Eventually, the Turks had reached the end of the line, only to encounter the largest pool of red yet, and to have their worst fears confirmed. Slouched over and slain on his throne rested the most powerful man in the world, a long, slender sword having pierced straight through his stout, unmoving corpse. After decades of power and world domination, and becoming someone whom many respected and despised... for him, it was now all over. President Shinra was dead.

"Oh no..." moaned Tseng, nearly falling to his knees upon realizing what had happened. "He's... dead."

Rude's jaw began to tremble. "I don't believe it..." he whispered. Shocked and bewildered, the two Turks scanned around the room as the President's carcass remained lying face-down on the desk, in a puddle of his own blood with nobody around. It was perplexing that no one had come up to save him.

Suddenly, the silence was broken when a short, old man appeared in front of the Turks, as he had been hiding behind a pillar beside the President's desk. "Uh!" the man squeaked, revealing himself to Tseng and Rude. He was Palmer, Shinra Executive and the Head of Space Exploration.

"Palmer!" Tseng called out as the plump man stumbled towards him. "What are you doing here?"

"Se... Sephiroth came... he really came!"cried Palmer, his mass wobbling. "Oh, the President! He's dead!"

"Where did Sephiroth go?"

"He's... I don't know! I've only been hiding. But he was here five minutes ago. Uh, he said something about not letting us have... um, the Promised Land."

"It was just you and the President here?" came another question from Tseng.

"Uh, yeah! He... uh, we were discussing the future of Space Exploration and... that's when Sephiroth appeared!" whined Palmer, his lips quivering. "He... he was... too quick!"

Tseng turned to his partner. "Rude, can you go down to see what's going on? I'm going to call Reeve."

"Yes sir." Rude nodded obediently before running off, leaving just Tseng and Palmer in the office.

The Turk leader then turned to the senior. "And Palmer, can you inform Rufus about the situation, if you haven't yet?"

"Rufus? The Vice-President?" he gulped. "Isn't he in Junon?"

"Yes, give him a call," nodded Tseng. "Tell him that his old man got slaughtered by Sephiroth... and also what was said about the Promised Land."

Palmer shrugged. "Uh, okay..."

"I'm going downstairs. Please, stay hidden until it is absolutely safe for you to evacuate."

* * *

The endless red trail continued to daunt Rude as he followed it down the stairs to Floor 69. It seemed puzzling how he had yet to spot a single person on his way there, considering the amount of blood on the floor and how the klaxon had been beaming for all this time. Surely a Shinra SOLDIER would have responded by now or at least worry that the President could be in danger. If anyone was to blame, there was no excuse for a Shinra Executive like Heidegger to sleep through multiple phone calls and an alarm, even for an emergency that came this early in the morning.

Upon reaching the floor, Rude passed through three security fields and headed for the nearest room, a hangout space for the top Shinra employees. He was then struck by a unique, rotting stench as he followed his way to the door, a smell that crashed into his nostrils like a car without brakes. Slamming the door open, Rude grimaced as he finally saw the contorted corpses of two employees, their broken limbs and bones splattered all over the place. The walls had been cut straight through and was coated with blood like red paint, dripping as the beaten bodies rested on top of one another in utter silence.

"Fuck..." Rude shook his head in pure disgust. He wanted to just plug his nose and close his eyes.

As the hangout room was a dead end, the bald Turk turned around to further his search for more discoveries. Unfortunately, the putrid smell only intensified as he approached the room across from the hangout, the Floor 69 commons which had its door sliced off completely. Tiptoeing into the lounge, he immediately saw several more employees slumped over and under the table, having clearly suffered sword wounds on their bodies. With horror and caution, Rude inched past the pile of carcasses and towards the exit of the commons, expecting to see more on his way to the 10-level stairwell. The route he had taken was a narrow corridor consisting of offices, and some bedrooms for those who needed it.

A minute later, he had reached the staircase, but not before encountering another four bodies in the hallway. Following the perpetual bloodstains down the steps, he swiped his ID card at the Floor 68 entrance before passing the security fields needed to enter Shinra's laboratory room. This was where he saw the body of a wounded lab assistant, who, unlike the others, was still alive and writhing ever so slightly in a puddle of his own blood. Kneeling down to lend a hand, Rude faced the agonized eyes of the man and spoke up. "Are you okay?" he uttered a question that had an obvious answer.

"Nnggghhh..." The contorted lab assistant just looked back, groaning and throbbing. Having been slashed across the back, he was in no shape to stand up.

"Hold on," whispered Rude, taking his phone out to alert Shinra Medical Care. With all that had happened in the last few days, health care was scarce and every hospital in Midgar must have been completely packed. Life had never been busier for doctors, physicians, and the emergency team.

Waiting for a response, Rude took a step towards the nearest wall, leaning on it as his eyes glued to the man. It was that sudden moment when a sharp, croaking noise emerged from somewhere across the laboratory. Alerted by the sound, Rude looked up to see a green, jackal-like creature escape from one of the broken test pods. Hissing and growling in confusion, the spiked, sharp-toothed creature began running around the open space, letting out a ferocious howl before sprinting towards the Turk.

In response to the creature's aggressive nature, Rude put his PHS away immediately and initiated a fighting stance. "Hojo's specimen?" he spoke. "Bring it on."

Jumping to the center of the lab, Rude allowed the specimen to strike first, testing its strength by allowing it to pull on his arm. When the attack came, he concluded that it was far from powerful despite having razor-sharp teeth. Also noting its poor fighting skill for a canid, Rude kicked it aside before delivering multiple lefts and rights to its skull. Putting his superior power to use, the weakened creature howled in pain as it collapsed to the floor, ending the short conflict.

As the croaking noise continued in the background, Rude turned around to notice another three monsters lurking in the area. "Better get rid of them..." he whispered, taking a look at the downed lab assistant before charging the monsters.

Showing no concern of their numbers, the Turk used his speed against the first enemy, surprising it from afar with a jumping fist. Proving to be deadly, the enemy fell back as its siblings flinched in surprise, growling at the attacker before retaliating with claws of their own. Using the materia embedded in his knuckles, Rude clenched his fists in deep focus before hurling a stream of fire towards the remaining enemies, all while ignoring the slight pain they had been giving him. Fire had always been his favorite and most dominant spell, and he smiled when he saw the specimens turn to half-ashes in seconds.

"Whoops, a bit too much there," he said, wondering if there were any more hostiles around. Examining the broken test pods, it appeared that Hojo had named this species "Zenene", as labeled on the glass in thick pen. With so much broken glass along the wall, it also became evident that many more specimens had escaped and were now free-roaming somewhere within the building.

Distracted for the last few minutes, Rude took his PHS out and began jogging back to the wounded lab assistant. When he arrived, however, he was confronted by yet another Zenene, this one with its mouth full of dripping blood. Grimacing at the horrific sight, Rude looked at the unusually calm creature and then the man. Immediately, he realized that the helpless man had turned into an unmoving corpse, his neck having been brutalized by the specimen. The Zenene, as weak as it appeared, had ended the last painful moments of his life...

After quickly defeating the Zenene, Rude continued down the blood trail towards the transport elevator, again taking out his PHS. This time, he called Tseng.

"Rude?"

"Chief, there are dead bodies everywhere," reported Rude, entering the small elevator when it opened. "I presume that Sephiroth is responsible. Even most of Hojo's hostile specimens have escaped. Is there... any way to alert Shinra Medical about this, or are we currently just focusing on evacuating the building?"

"The evacuation is still in process, even though Reeve said that Sephiroth was last seen outside of Shinra Building, about fifteen minutes ago," answered Tseng, his voice tired. "Still, I believe that many Shinra employees are unaware of what has been happening... including Heidegger, I suppose... and none of our SOLDIERs were able to locate Sephiroth in person. Where are you now?"

When the elevator reopened, Rude got out and said, "Floor 67. If Sephiroth is outside, shouldn't we head down and help evacuate the civilians to safety?"

There was a brief moment of silence from Tseng, and then a long, stressful sigh. "Damn it," he began. "It's two in the morning. The President's dead, our employees are dead, and everything is just confusing right now. The feeling right now... for so many of us... it's terrible. We don't know where Sephiroth is, how he got here or what his mission is..."

Rude shuddered as he saw another carcass laid on the floor by some boxes. "Call it a day, is what you're saying?"

"For now, meet me on the SOLDIER Floor to further discuss the situation," ordered Tseng. He was referring to Floor 49, the home to Shinra SOLDIERs. "But after that, it's best to get some rest and start fresh tomorrow."

"On my way."

"Hold on," Tseng interrupted just as Rude was about to hang up. "I was talking to Rufus. He said he's coming here all the way from Junon. If you haven't yet read the email... we have a meeting later at 11 AM."

"Rufus?" Rude raised a brow. "Hmm... with his father deceased..."

"He will take his place as the new President."

When the call ended, Rude was immediately disturbed by another wicked smell coming from the left, and so he turned to notice something precariously strange. The sealed containment of Jenova had disappeared and was replaced with nothing but some oozing blood remains, its sturdy, steel door having been ripped off the hinges. Rude frowned as he realized that Jenova, heaven's dark harbinger, had been reclaimed by the ultimate SOLDIER, Sephiroth. Also looking at the minor carnage around him, the bald Turk stood in horror and breathed deeply for a moment before running straight towards the elevator, his mind set on getting to Tseng on Floor 49. He then randomly thought about Reno, and how he was holding up on an utterly terrifying day that was finally coming to a close. The day was ending with Sephiroth back and President Shinra dead.

* * *

 _ **A/N:** The crisis has begun. This is shortly before Cloud and the others manage to escape from their cells in FFVII._


	11. Chapter 11 - President Rufus Shinra

**Before Crisis 2: The Crisis** by Jescii

 _The events of FFVII told from the Turks' POV. I do not own the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII or any of its characters. The credit goes to Square Enix._

* * *

 **Chapter 11** \- President Rufus Shinra

 **December 12th [ ν ] - εγλ 0007, 10:45 AM**

It was after a short, 4-hour rest. Rude awoke in his personal bedroom with a mild headache, the pillow vibrating from his phone underneath it. Turning over to his sunglasses, he groaned upon noticing that the time was quarter to eleven, and that he had somehow slept an hour past the alarm. The scheduled meeting with Rufus and the Turks, was in fifteen minutes and he knew immediately that there was no time to waste to get to Floor 66.

Stumbling onto the floor, Rude reached for one of his many Turk uniforms that hung neatly inside a closet. Having collapsed to bed earlier with his pants and shirt on, the uniform was all he needed to put on. Sliding in his sunglasses, he bolted out of the room and headed straight for the bathroom, a toothbrush and toothpaste grasped loosely in his hand. No morning shower, no morning coffee; just nothing but a quick brush. This was not going to look good at all.

It was only three minutes after when Rude found himself on Floor 66, scrambling for the meeting room. When he stepped inside, he sighed quietly in relief upon seeing that Rufus had yet to arrive, his chair unoccupied on the table's end. The spacious, rectangular room was filled with the main Shinra Executives as they sat quietly in their seats, unbothered to make eye contact with the arriving Turk. It was Heidegger and Palmer on the far left of the table, and Reeve Tuesti on the right. Scarlet, the Head of Weapons Development, took the seat closest to Rufus' unoccupied chair, which was previously dedicated to his father. As she was President Shinra's most trusted and well-liked executive, Rude couldn't help but imagine how she felt early morning after learning of his death by the hands of Sephiroth.

"Yo, Rude!" called Reno when he saw him approaching the table. Sitting with crutches on the side and bandages over his forehead, he had no problem raising his voice over his many superiors. "You're late..."

"Hmph..." groaned Rude as he sat down across from Reno and next to Reeve. Maintaining his calm and professional behavior, he chose not to speak.

"Good morning, Rude," Tseng greeted in a clear voice; he was beside Reno. Rude just nodded back as he mentally reminded himself to keep his straight posture. But he still looked down towards the table, reading his watch and avoiding eye contact with the others. As relieved as he was to have arrived on time, he did not want anyone to notice his tired and disheveled appearance. At least his sunglasses were there to cover his crusty eyes.

"Any second now..." whispered Reno, ducking his head slightly. He had been gazing patiently upon the front door, waiting for it to slide open. He knew easily that everyone was here now except for two people: Rufus and Professor Hojo, the latter whom no one expected to ever show up. This meeting was an opportunity for the Turks to see how things stood between themselves and the Shinra Executives, under control of a new leader and a different person - someone who showed at least some respect and only rarely treated them like crap.

At that same minute, the front door finally slid open to allow entrance of the young man, a stern, confident look on his face as he walked by his underlings. Rufus Shinra was a 25-year old man of average height and a slim, yet toned build, having short golden hair that was combed to both sides. He wore a white business suit that matched over a black shirt, with a double-barreled shotgun slotted firmly on the right pocket. There was silence in the room as he walked to his reserved seat, nobody daring to greet him despite being well aware of his presence.

"Morning, everyone," he started in a clear, upbeat voice. With a pause, his blue eyes glanced around the table. "Turks, Executives." Returning voices began to murmur in unison as they finally greeted him. "I am Rufus Shinra, former Vice-President of Shinra Incorporated," he introduced. "As you know from the tragedy that befell earlier, former SOLDIER Sephiroth returned seeking for the Promised Land and killed over two hundred people inside this building. Including... my own father."

Rufus looked down on the table, exhaling quietly as he gave everyone some time to reflect on the tragedy. After the short pause, he continued, "After learning of his death, I did not waste any time to fly here from Junon, to officially and delightfully declare myself as the new President Shinra." Proudly, he scanned his eyes around the rectangular room. "Although our thoughts and prayers are with everyone affected... there are many things that we must discuss moving forward. Sephiroth, the Promised Land, AVALANCHE... even Hojo, who has left a letter of resignation in my new office."

Even for a day where so much had happened, this was news to everyone including the Turks - Hojo resigned, after three decades as Head of Shinra Science. Being someone so narrow-minded and self-centered, his sudden decision to step down might not have made sense. Perhaps he was too distraught about his failed Ancients experiment, which also led to Red XIII escaping from captivity. All thanks to AVALANCHE, of course.

"First things first, about my father," uttered Rufus in a neutral tone. "Let it be known that I never liked him. He was very bad at controlling the world. His strategies seemed to have worked on the outside... but with lies and broken promises comes terrorism. And because of it, our trust with the civilians has minimized significantly."

While most people in the room continued to glare at Rufus, their faces unchanging, Reno was the only one nodding approvingly, waiting for his next words. The man then continued, "Work at Shinra, get your pay; if terrorists attack, the Shinra Army will help... the words of my father. Of course, I do things differently. The world will be controlled with fear. A little fear will manipulate the minds of the common people. There's no need to waste money on them."

Rufus paused as he grabbed out a water bottle and drank from it. "With that said and done, let's move on..." his head turned towards the woman beside him, "Scarlet," he called out. "Head of Weapons. Tell us what you know about the situation and how we can approach it."

The eyes of everyone shifted to the middle-aged, blonde-haired woman. "Oh, AVALANCHE," came her quick response. "I say we dispose of these terrorists first. I don't even know why they're still alive. If we turn our attention too quickly towards Sephiroth, AVALANCHE..." Stopping mid-sentence, Scarlet faltered as she analyzed what she had just said. "Wait! Didn't we capture them last night?" she asked everyone. "Aren't they, like, locked up in prison on Floor 67? Kya haa haa haa! My bad..."

"Gya haa haa!" erupted a laugh from Heidegger. "They sure are! We got them good last night," he explained as Scarlet laughed along.

"Except they're not," interrupted Rufus, shaking his head. In a sudden, the noise level decreased as everyone turned to the facepalming President. "Come on. They got away," he sighed. Rude's eyes lit up behind his sunglasses. "No one knows this except for Palmer and myself? I... don't know what to say."

And so in all that commotion from earlier, AVALANCHE managed to escape just hours after their capture. "Sir," Tseng raised his voice. "We were responsible for their capture last night. I checked on their prison cells before arriving here and can confirm to everyone that they've escaped... somehow. How are you aware of this before any of us?"

Though surprised at the news, Rude nodded agreeably, thankful that Tseng had just backed him and the Turks. "Well," responded Rufus. "Actually, when I first arrived at the Shinra Building... AVALANCHE was already there on the helipad to confront me. Their leader apparently is a former 1st Class SOLDIER. Name is Cloud... a young blond man who wields a sword. And for whatever reason he too is after Sephiroth... but of course, we can't be allies."

"President..." Reeve chimed in over the bewildered silence. "You said AVALANCHE was on the helipad... what were they doing up there?"

Rufus scratched his chin. "...Good question."

"They, um, seemed interested about the Promised Land when I mentioned it," added Palmer. "They followed the trail of bodies up to where the President was murdered... why... why? Wouldn't down have been a better escape route than up?"

Taking note of Palmer's rhetorical remarks, Tseng came in with another question. "Sir, how many of AVALANCHE did you confront?"

"They're not all working for AVALANCHE, I believe..." sighed Rufus. "There were five in total, one of them a research specimen. The confrontation was rather... short, and as Palmer said, they seemed quite interested about Sephiroth and the Promised Land. Unfortunately, there was nothing I could have done. They've most likely escaped, and whoever responsible for releasing them is an idiot."

"Hm! Turks," snapped Scarlet, stubbornly as she scowled at Tseng and Reno. "Without a doubt, this is your fault! You probably didn't even lock their cells up!"

"The hell?" entered Rude as he shrugged his shoulders. "We left them to the guards. And I have to wonder... what were _you_ up to while Sephiroth was here?"

"Let me guess, sleepin'?" blurted Reno with a mean glare.

Even Reeve interjected, only to be immediately cut off, "Isn't it more likely that Sephiroth-"

"Oh! So you're going to put the blame on _me_ now?!" barked Scarlet, turning over to the President. "Rufus, can you believe these two? This is ridiculous." She then faced the man sitting across from her. "Heidegger!" she yelled. "You're the boss of them. What is _with_ these guys!?"

"Gya-"

"Goddammit," interrupted Rufus, a truly disgusted look on his face. "My first meeting as President and I see an argument over something so utterly pointless... hmph. How pathetic..." Rubbing the back of his head, the President glared at everyone and waited five seconds for the air to calm. "My first day as President and we're approaching a crisis..." he started again. "With Sephiroth back on a mission of his own, we are left with so many unanswerable questions. But Shinra knows, we can't let him win; we must stop him...

"But a starting point is needed. We have witnesses coming in, and the army on the lookout... and it seems already that Sephiroth has fled the city."

"Turks," Heidegger called out in a now-serious tone. "We'll need you on a mission to locate Sephiroth and gather information on him. As for AVALANCHE..."

"I see them as no threat whatsoever," added the President. "They're a small group with the same goal. Attack on sight, eliminate when necessary." As he said that last statement, Rufus noted the bandages over Reno's forehead. "Also, with Reno injured..." he continued. "We're allowing for a new permanent member to join the Turks, immediately."

"Yo, really?" Reno spoke up, excitedly.

"But Rufus," objected Heidegger in an arguing voice. "His injury is minor. And new rules state that we cannot exceed three..."

"New rules what?" Rufus questioned his remarks. "My father is dead."

"It's not that," blurted Scarlet, immediately siding with Heidegger. "We can't have the same thing happen again, with betrayals and-"

"During a time like this," added Tseng, "what's happened in the past doesn't matter. Recruitment of one Turk should prove helpful at the least."

"Correct," agreed Rufus, prompting Reno and Rude to nod along. "Tseng, I'm granting you permission to find a suitable candidate for this position, immediately. While Rude can prepare for the investigation..."

"President," muttered Heidegger, again showing no signs of giving in. "As the Head of Public Safety and boss of the Turks, it is my duty to find the new recruit."

"As the Head of Public Safety," corrected Rufus, "you are responsible for mobilizing the Shinra Army from around the world. For now, we shall start an executive discussion on the do-knows and don't-knows, the planning and preparatives..." he paused for a second and looked at Rude. "Turks. Tseng, Reno, Rude. You're excused."

Upon hearing his words, the three Turks stood up from their seats. "Thank you, President," thanked Tseng, while Reno and Rude made polite nods to him. Making their way to the exit, Tseng nodded appreciatively towards his colleagues as he held the door open for Reno, the rookie at using crutches, all while Rude lagged closely behind.

As terrible of a situation as everyone was in, it just seemed like another needed start for the Turks. With Rufus now in charge of the company, maybe the death of his father wasn't so bad after all.

* * *

 _ **A/N:** This behind-the-scenes chapter was very, very important to write._


	12. Chapter 12 - The New Recruit

**Before Crisis 2: The Crisis** by Jescii

 _The events of FFVII told from the Turks' POV. I do not own the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII or any of its characters. The credit goes to Square Enix._

* * *

 **Chapter 12** \- The New Recruit

 **December 12th [ ν ] - εγλ 0007, 12:00 PM**

Immediately after the executive meeting, the Turks stopped by at their office for a briefing of the current situation. The briefing was a time to reflect on the recent past and everything that had happened in the last 24 hours. It all began with the collapse of Sector 7 and the arrest of AVALANCHE. Then came the return of Sephiroth and the massacre that led to President Shinra's death. But in the end, it was Rufus Shinra who reigned supreme, as the newest President of Shinra Inc.

At this point, Rude was surprised that he and his two colleagues were still alive. And he could easily tell that Tseng, as calmed as he seemed earlier, was struggling to hide his emotions over the traumatic events. Reno was banged up from battle and still hurting badly... but unlike the others, he didn't seem to care too much about the past. The meeting with Rufus seemed to have cheered him up and he was overjoyed about the new recruit.

And during the briefing, the redhead couldn't help but bring up the topic. "Chief," he called out. "The new Turk. Do you have any idea who?"

"I as well was wondering..." said Rude, clearing his throat.

"I do, actually," mumbled Tseng in a dry voice. Normally, he wouldn't answer until he was absolutely certain. "This individual is a recent graduate from the Shinra Military Academy. If I recall correctly, she finished school with the highest grades and-"

"Wait... _she_?!" intercepted Reno, flabbergasted. "My replacement is a _girl_?!"

"Reno... let him continue."

"Temporary replacement, permanent member..." sighed Tseng as he nodded to Rude. "But yes, the new recruit is female. Emma's younger sister, in fact. Elena is her name."

"Alright, I've heard about her," the redhead grinned. Emma was a former Turk who had told him a lot about Elena over the years. "She's a total klutz, according to Emma."

"The two share a sibling rivalry," muttered the skinhead. "Interesting."

"I'm proud to say that Elena is by far the most qualified person for this position," the leader remarked, confidently. "She was the only student to have attained the five Elite Emblems. We're expecting a lot out of her."

"Klutz or not," blurted Reno, sarcastically. "She better have a little more personality than her sister, heheheh!"

And as expected, neither of his colleagues joined in on the laughter. "She does firearms too?" questioned Rude.

"Correct, along with martial arts," confirmed Tseng as he paused for a moment. "In any case, she must accept the offer... so we can begin training her as soon as possible." Pausing again, he looked down at his watch and realized that it was already past noon. "We're short on time. You two are dismissed."

* * *

Initially, it was planned for Reno and Rude go on their separate ways, as Rude hadn't eaten all morning and Reno needed to rest up and recover from his injuries. However, it didn't take them long to reunite as Reno decided to accompany Rude in his mission to prepare for the Sephiroth hunt. Although Heidegger had given Reno the day off, he wasn't going to just stay in bed and let his partner do the mission alone. It was a harmless mission and something he normally found boring, but it was far better than reading magazines and doing nothing else all day.

"Hey Rude, I'll be honest with you," he said as he crutched his way to the Floor 59 elevator. "I'm kind of glad that AVALANCHE got away."

Rude raised a brow as he pressed the call button. "How come?"

"It was three versus one," he explained bitterly, referring to the Sector 7 battle. "Those cowards. If they're still alive, we'll be the ones to take them out. There's no way we can lose with my upgraded weapon."

"And if I see them... I'll be sure to give them a fair warning."

"But still... the hell did we blow up Sector 7 for? We did all that for nothing."

As the door opened, Rude ignored him and entered the elevator, swiping in his ID card and punching the '67' button. "Let's talk about Sector 7 some other time."

"What's that you got?" inquired Reno, pointing at an object that was sticking out of Rude's pocket.

"Hmph," the skinhead murmured as he took out the item. It was a rectangular electronic device with a valve and chemical sensor. "This Shinra-D07 detector may be of use..." he explained, handing the device to Reno.

The redhead just looked at it confusedly. "What does it do?"

"Designed by our techs, it is able to detect anything within a certain radius, depending on what we're trying to find."

"...Shinra technology at its finest, huh," he commented dumbly. "But how can we track Sephiroth with this?"

"It isn't obvious to you, yet?" teased Rude as the elevator stopped at Floor 66. The door opened and allowed entrance for a pair of crime scene cleaners, who were carrying body bags. When one of the cleaners began to drag the bodies in, Rude frowned at him and said, "We're going up."

"Up, not down?" the man shouted through his face mask. "Should we still go in?"

"Take the emergency elevator, not here..." yapped Reno as he repeatedly pressed the close-door button. "This one takes you nowhere near the dumpster."

"Uh, okay..." the man mumbled as the door closed on the pair. When the elevator started moving again, Reno and Rude looked at each other in disgust of the smell of bodies that had come in. As their destination was Floor 67, Rude took a step forward knowing that Reno was going to be following him this time, and not the other way around.

When the door opened, he stepped out and said, "Let's go to Hojo's lab and take a sample of Jenova."

"Jenova!?" roared Reno as he struggled to get his crutches together. "This is how we're going to track Sephiroth?"

"Indeed. It's a simple, yet powerful idea. Inject a few drops of Jenova into this device and we're golden."

The redhead shrugged his shoulders. "Are you sure this will work?"

Rude nodded confidently, believing that there was no way his plan could fail. The plan was to track down Sephiroth with the help of Shinra's new technology, Shinra-D07 with a dose of Jenova inside it. As Sephiroth himself was made of Jenova cells, whether or not he took her away from the laboratory didn't actually matter. The technology was going to detect anything with a high concentration of Jenova, and there was more Jenova inside Sephiroth than any monster or SOLDIER in the world.

Arriving to the lab, Reno stopped in horror to see what Rude had already witnessed earlier; the unoccupied space of the Jenova containment. All that remained now was a broken hose with some thick, reddish-pink fluid leaking out of it, along with metal and glass rubble that was also once part of the vessel. It was the mysterious pink substance that stunned Reno, and for a moment, he was so horrified by it that he had no idea what it was. _Was it someone's blood? Why is it pink?_ he thought to himself.

Suddenly, the redhead was brought back to the present when his eyes caught Rude kneeling down with a pipette, beginning to collect a sample of the fluid.

"Shit, shit! What are you doing?!" screamed Reno before finally realizing what the pink stuff was. "Oh wait, that's Jenova..."

"Tsk tsk tsk..." Rude shook his head, acting disappointed. "And I thought I was the one that needed sleep..."

"Holy crap," gulped Reno as he watched Jenova's remains being transferred into the Shinra-D07. "You have another one, right? Pass it over."

"We're using two for the hunt," declared Rude as he handed the second device to Reno. "One for myself and one for the director... since you're not medically cleared to partake in the mission."

"Man, I'm gonna miss out on the fun," whined Reno as he collected a pipette on the nearby table. "I mean, it sucks that Sephiroth's back and all... but if he wasn't here, we'd only have AVALANCHE to worry about. We don't want our jobs to get boring, y'know?"

Rude smiled as he started to play with the Shinra-D07. "Just be thankful that you're still getting paid as you heal."

* * *

Elena was a 19-year old woman with a petite stature, brown eyes, and neck-length blonde hair. Her lifetime goal had always been to surpass her sister and she had done whatever she could to achieve it. She even went as far as taking two extra years of school to maximize her grades... but at the same time, she had vowed to never join the Turks as long as her sister was part of the organization. And when the Turks tragically disbanded, she saw her window of opportunity. And for one whole month, she had been waiting desperately to be called up.

The call from Tseng was the highlight of her day, though she had spent most of the morning crying about Sector 7. Residing on the upper plate of Sector 4, it was a one in eight chance that she could have died that day. Her apartment was a short drive away from Shinra Headquarters and she wasted no time heading there after hearing from her soon-to-be boss.

Elena had put on a blue blazer and a pair of black slacks for her first meeting as a Turk. When she arrived to the lobby, a secretary escorted her to the elevator. As the nerves started to kick in, the way up was probably the longest and most uncomfortable elevator ride she had ever taken. But it was all smiles after that when she finally reached her destination.

"Elena?" the man called out, holding out his hand. "My name is Tseng. Pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise," she greeted with a smile. Accepting the handshake, she looked him in the eyes and studied his appearance.

"Welcome to the Turks. Please come in." Gesturing for her to follow him to his desk, he noted the resemblance she shared with her sister. "You're the younger sister of Emma, correct?"

"Yes," she nodded, taking the seat across of him. "That's correct."

"She was a highly respectable Turk," he added. "But please note that we didn't select you because of her. Your achievements at the SMA, along with your combat skills, are what made you the best candidate for this position."

"T-thank you, sir." Elena wasn't sure how to respond to that exactly. "I worked really hard to get here."

"Every Turk that I've worked with had little experience when they first started," admitted Tseng. "It's normal. But it shouldn't take a long time to get you fully trained, and we'll need you to begin working with us right away. Is that possible?"

"Yes sir."

Satisfied with her response, Tseng grabbed some papers beside him... only to hear someone knock on the door. Immediately, he suspected it was Rude. "Come in."

But the leader of the Turks was surprised to see that it was Reno instead... with Rude right behind. "Yo Chief, we've come up with a plan for Seph-" the redhead chimed in before stopping mid-sentence. "Huh? And you are...!?"

"I'd like to introduce you two to our newest Turk," Tseng said proudly. "Her name is Elena."

"Hey..." waved Elena.

"Hello," greeted Rude in an extremely monotonous tone. In an unexpected pause, he turned to Reno, who was glaring at him right back. Neither of them approached her for a handshake.

"So you're Elena, huh," said Reno, finally. _Not what I was expecting_ , he thought, puzzled that she was just a young, petite woman. "Nice to meet you, but uh... how old are you?"

Elena couldn't believe the awkwardness that was going on, "N-nineteen..." she answered, recognizing the sunglasses and wondering why they were worn indoors. "And your names are...?"

"This is Reno and Rude," interrupted Tseng, coming to her aid. "Two very friendly guys, but as you can tell, they're not so good with welcomes."

"Yeah, Rude is just very quiet," joked Reno, tapping his partner's arm and laughing as he told him, "Good luck with her, dude."

 _Please leave..._ thought Tseng, and so he winked at them to signal their dismissal.

"...See you later, Elena," grinned Rude as he and Reno turned and walked away, closing the door on their way out.

"Well then," Tseng chuckled. "Welcome to the Turks, Elena."

* * *

 _ **A/N** : Elena's sister is named "Emma" because that was her name in Last Order: FFVII, according to production sketches._


	13. Chapter 13 - Mythril Mission

**Before Crisis 2: The Crisis** by Jescii

 _The events of FFVII told from the Turks' POV. I do not own the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII or any of its characters. The credit goes to Square Enix._

* * *

 **Chapter 13** \- Mythril Mission

 **December 14th [ ν ] - εγλ 0007, 8:00 AM**

It was a chilly morning at the Shinra Headquarters after a full day of training for Elena. She had spent the night in her new room on Floor 32. Her first ever mission as a Turk was to accompany Rude in the search for Sephiroth using the Shinra-D07, a technology that was able to detect anything with Jenova in it.

"Your first mission," Rude spoke to his new partner, "is to sit in the helicopter, holding... this thing." He and Elena were up on the helipad, walking towards one of the B1-Alpha Helicopters.

"Oh! This must be the device Mr. Tseng was talking about," asked Elena as she was handed the D07. Rude just ignored her as they jumped onto the helicopter from opposite sides. "My first time in a Shinra helicopter..."

"You'll be trained to pilot one soon," muttered Rude after equipping a pair of headsets.

Looking around her surroundings, Elena flinched at the sound of the engine starting. "What about our seat belts!" she shouted, also putting on her headsets.

"Forget the seat belts," yelled Rude as the helicopter started to ascend. "If it's gonna crash, we'll jump out."

And so began the search for Sephiroth. As per Heidegger's instructions, Rude was told to head southwest of Midgar and towards a mythril mining cave called Mythril Mine. On the other hand, Tseng had flown past Mythril Mine and towards Junon for his own search. He was also responsible for helping organize Rufus' inauguration parade that was taking place in two days.

"Elena, can you hear me?" A voice came through her headsets. "It's Tseng."

"Sir!" she spoke up. "Is there a problem?"

"Just making sure you can hear me."

"Oh, I can hear you loud and clear," she replied. For a moment, Elena began to reflect back at the previous day. It was a busy day of training but Tseng made it a great day for her. He was so kind and gentle in the way he trained her, and he even helped her move into her new room. If it weren't for him, she might have had second thoughts about joining the Turks.

And there she was, trailing off and distracted for the first time. Her daydream ended when a beeping sound suddenly emerged from the Shinra-D07. Feeling the vibration in her left hand, she brought it close to her eyes for examination. There were numbers displayed on the reading and she had no idea what they meant.

"Rude!" reported Elena, showing him the Shinra-D07. "What does this mean?"

Rude grabbed the device and examined the reading. "It means that Jenova is located somewhere within a 36-mile radius. Concentration levels are still moderately low at 21 percent."

"Wait, what?!" she gasped. "Does that mean Sephiroth is near?"

"Not exactly. Just traces," he informed her as the radius on the reading continued to slowly decrease. "Keep an eye out. He definitely did come this way."

"He's gotta be near Mythril Mine..." she said with curiosity in her eyes and reached for a pair of binoculars. "Are we almost there?"

"Almost there. Just keep an eye out."

 _So Sephiroth did come this way..._ thought Rude, thinking of a reason why he came here. After a few more minutes, Rude and Elena began to descend towards Mythril Mine as the radius closed to within five miles, while concentration levels increased to 55%. It was around that moment when Elena caught an eye of something rather eerie.

"What in the world...?" the rookie yelled out, adjusting the focus on her binoculars. "Sir! I think I found something."

"...?"

"Whoa! They're... Zoloms," she identified, only to realize that something looked very off. "They're all... dead. There's about four dead Zoloms, impaled on a tree."

"...Impaled on a tree?" mumbled the skinhead as his attention was finally caught.

"Yeah, down there. Take a look."

Looking through the binoculars, Rude confirmed Elena's observations. There was indeed a bloody carnage of about four-to-five Midgar Zoloms, all of which were impaled on a large tree like a kabob. A deadly, often unbeatable creature, he had never before seen a serpent of that size brutalized in such a horrendous fashion.

"Interesting," he commented, handing back the binoculars. "I think we should go investigate. Maybe Sephiroth had something to do with this."

"Yes, we should go see," exhaled Elena, feeling accomplished that she found something. "Should I report to Mr. Tseng?"

"Sure."

As the helicopter descended towards ground level, it turned out that the rampage occurred very close to the entrance of Mythril Mine. It wasn't long after when the Turks were informed that AVALANCHE was sighted by Shinra officials and also heading towards the cave. Focused on the Sephiroth mission, Rude and Elena hopped out of the stalled helicopter and walked into the bloody scene of Zoloms.

"Those are slash wounds," observed Rude as Elena looked around cautiously, the Shinra-D07 still beeping vigorously. "No one could have done this except for Sephiroth."

"Clearly. But where can this lead us next?"

"The D07 won't stop beeping because there are traces of Jenova here," he continued, taking several snapshots of the scene. "I say we check inside the cave."

"Yeah..." shuddered Elena, facing the black hole that was the entrance. "Must be dark in there..."

"There are monsters in the cave, but they're harmless. Nothing to be afraid of."

"Let's go, then," she shrugged, expecting him to lead the way.

"You lead the way," he instructed before pulling out his PHS. "Tseng, we're going inside Mythril Mine. Entrance 01."

The Mythril Mine was a semi-abandoned mine that was once valued for its rich energy content, supplying electricity to most of the Eastern Continent. When Mako energy was then discovered, the people of Kalm still worked in the pits to manufacture and sell Mythril-made products. However, this was all before the recent invasion of Midgar Zoloms stopped the mining expeditions for good.

With Elena leading the way, the two Turks infiltrated the cave and were immediately threatened by a screeching mixture of noises. The main path quickly split into two, and when she turned around to indicate uncertainty of which one to take, Rude just shrugged and gestured her to choose either. She took left.

The path she took started with a steep incline and eventually expanded, a collection of serrated rock formations coming into view. Forming into a bridge, there was a small creek flowing underneath as the sound of monsters slowly died down. Soon reaching the 500-yard mark, it didn't take much longer for a large group of monsters, hiding behind a nearby rock, to spring up and create an ambush from behind.

"Ah!" screamed Elena, bitten on the leg as she and Rude began to fight the other two off. She immediately kicked it aside and pulled out a hand grenade, chucking the weapon at the creature and destroying it immediately. The loud explosion created a distraction for the other five monsters, helping Rude to defeat three of them with a single blow. He let Elena handle the rest, as she had no problem killing the last two with kicks and punches of her own. Conflict resolved... in just twelve seconds.

"Castanets," said Rude as he identified the scorpion-like creatures. "These guys are harmless. We can do without grenades next time."

"Oh, sorry..." apologized Elena, tending to her right calf. "Ow..."

After signaling for her to keep walking forward, Rude asked, "Not wearing any protection there?"

"Nope," she shook her head. "Tseng gave me a Minerva Band for my arm, though."

"That's a good one," he complimented in a monotone. "Good for materia, but I wouldn't know from experience..."

"Yeah, it lets you equip up to six materia, but..." she stopped mid-sentence before admitting, "I never use materia."

"Hmm," he scoffed. "You just don't know how to use it."

"Hey, I know some spells," she corrected him. "Just not a whole lot. For example, I'd like to learn how to use Fire one day."

"Hmm."

Elena had already grown tired of his 'hmm' responses, and the next 2000 yards were hiked in near silence between them. It seemed that whenever she had something to say or ask, Rude would only give her single-word responses in the most disinterested tone ever. But as more monsters were killed along the way, their hopes of finding Sephiroth gradually minimized. The Shinra-D07 had started to beep slower and slower, only confirming that the target was nowhere here.

"He's not here," wheezed Elena, stopping and waiting for Rude to catch up. She had reached a dead end on a ledge high above the ground.

Eventually, the two Turks were interrupted by the sound of their PHS. "Rude, Elena. I'm coming to Mythril Mine from the Fort Condor side... Entrance 06," it was Tseng. "There have been reports that Sephiroth may be headed towards Junon Harbor..."

"Junon?" answered Rude, exhaling into the PHS. "Isn't Rufus holding a parade there on Sunday?"

"Yes. Junon is where the Shinra Army will capture him for good."

"Yes sir... but what are you doing in Mythril Mine?" he questioned. "We're also approaching Entrance 06."

"Heidegger has ordered me to mobilize the troops to Fort Condor, and then search for clues about AVALANCHE," said Tseng, pausing for a second. "I thought I'd check Mythril Mine before heading to Junon."

"I see... I was wondering because Sephiroth is clearly not here. But why AVALANCHE?"

Tseng sighed. "I don't get what's going on in Heidegger's mind. The President's already made it clear that our number one priority is Sephiroth."

"Hm."

"We're not going to waste our time on AVALANCHE."

"Yes sir."

"Head to Junon Harbor immediately. We'll meet up at Entrance 06."

Elena spoke up as soon as the call ended. "Sorry for the question, but sir, why doesn't the President see any danger in AVALANCHE?" she asked him, curiously. "For Gaia's sake, they blew up Sector 7, didn't they?"

"Yeah, they did..." shrugged Rude, lying in order to keep the secret. "I don't know."

Suddenly, the awkward silence between Rude and Elena was disrupted by some human voices down below. At first, it sounded like two different female voices. But then came the screaming and shouting of a man, and although they were just echoes, it was a voice all too recognizable to Rude. Stunned by the approaching sounds, it didn't take much longer for the name "Cloud" to be mentioned by one of the females. And for whatever reason, the Shinra-D07 had also started to beep faster and faster.

"Fuck..." whispered Rude as Elena just looked at him confusedly. "AVALANCHE is here?"

* * *

 _ **A/N** : This is the scene before Cloud and the others run into the Turks in FFVII._


	14. Chapter 14 - Rookie Mistake

**Before Crisis 2: The Crisis** by Jescii

 _The events of FFVII told from the Turks' POV. I do not own the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII or any of its characters. The credit goes to Square Enix._

* * *

 **Chapter 14** \- Rookie Mistake

 **December 14th [ ν ] - εγλ 0007, 10:30 AM**

Rude couldn't believe that AVALANCHE was also in Mythril Mine and heading his way. As the voices drew closer, he saw a tall rock ahead and tiptoed towards it, signaling for Elena to follow him. "Come on," he hissed.

"What's going on?" murmured Elena, crouching behind the rock. She had no idea who the voices belonged to.

"Cloud Strife and AVALANCHE are coming," he whispered, pointing at the ground below.

Her eyes widened. "What!?"

"I can recognize the voices," he said, looking down again as they finally appeared on the scene. Cloud, Barret, Tifa, Aerith, and Red XIII were really here. "Down there, see?"

"Oh no!" she gasped, biting her lip. "What are we going to do?"

After a short moment of thinking and looking around, Rude stood up and walked further towards the cliff, gesturing for Elena to follow. He then turned around and smiled, "We're after Sephiroth. But now... seems like a good time introduce ourselves to AVALANCHE."

"Huh?" she shrugged. "How come?"

"They're also after Sephiroth..." he said as they continued to walk towards the dead end. When they reached the cliff, the skinhead looked down at the region below, thinking twice about jumping down. "Part of being a Turk is knowing where we stand with the enemy."

"Umm..." mumbled Elena as she watched Rude climbed down twenty-five feet to the bottom. _I guess it's smarter than fighting them, since we're badly outnumbered..._ she thought.

"Introduce yourself to them," he told her after finally reaching the ground. "But you stay up there."

Nodding to his order, she stopped at the end of the ledge and waited for AVALANCHE to approach Rude, who just stood there like a statue. The rookie had seen mugshots of Cloud, Barret, and Tifa and she would have never thought to see them in person on her very first day.

When the time came, Rude raised a right hand and yelled to the group, "Just a second!"

"The hell?" spat the gruff, dark-skinned Barret. Towering behind the four others, the big man aimed his gun-arm at Rude before Cloud gestured for him to lower it.

"Who are you?" questioned Tifa, the woman who wore her usual revealing clothing, a miniskirt and sleeveless shirt that exposed her midriff. As she was in front of the group beside Cloud, her rather attractive looks managed to catch Rude's attention for a moment. Also behind her was Aerith, the flower girl whom Cloud rescued, and Red XIII, the non-human feline creature and Shinra's research specimen.

"Do you know who I am?" asked Rude after making eye contact with everyone in the group.

His question was directed at Cloud. "From the Turks, right?"

"Well if you know, then this won't take long," he nodded, hinting some friendliness in his tone as Elena looked on from above. "It's difficult to explain what the Turks do..."

At this point, he was praying for them to not mention the Sector 7 incident. "Kidnapping, right?" shrugged Cloud.

"To put it negatively... you could say that." Again distracted by Tifa's looks, he paused for a second time, thinking of what to say next. "...But, that's not all there is to it, anymore," he finally said, crossing his arms.

But those were the last of his words, as he again trailed off in the most awkward way, the ensuing silence taking over the cavern. _This is getting pathetic..._ thought Elena. To help him out and avoid further embarrassment, she decided it was best to speak up and make her presence known.

"Sir!" she called out enthusiastically, causing the members of AVALANCHE to look around before finding her high above. Rude just pivoted his head slowly towards the young rookie. "It's all right, Rude! I know you don't like speeches, so don't force it!"

"Then Elena, explain," he instructed.

"I'm the newest member of the Turks, Elena. Thanks to what you did to Reno, we're shorthanded..." she introduced herself to the enemy, her words coming out fast. "...But, because of that, I got promoted to the Turks." Ending her sentence with a smile, she waited a few seconds for Rude to take over from there, but when he didn't, she continued, "Anyhow... our job is to find out where Sephiroth is headed. And to try and stop you every step of the way." Scratching her head, she stopped and reflected at what she had just said. "Wait a minute, it's the other way around... you're the ones getting in our way..."

"...Elena. You talk too much," said _someone_. In the midst of confusion, Elena and Rude turned to the open doorway and saw that Tseng had walked in.

"Mr. Tseng!?" she squealed in surprise.

But Tseng just looked at her sternly, avoiding eye contact with the others. "No need to tell them about our orders."

Realizing her mistake, she looked down at her shoes. "Sorry... Tseng."

"I thought I gave your orders," he stated, referring to the latest potential sighting of Sephiroth. "Now go. And don't forget to file your report."

"Oh! Right!" grinned Elena as she glanced at everyone down below before staring at Cloud. "Very well. Rude and I will go after Sephiroth, who's heading for Junon Harbor!"

"...Elena." Tseng let out a sigh and shook his head. "You don't seem to understand."

"Oh! I'm, I'm sorry..." she apologized again, but was unsure whether or not he was being serious this time.

The leader of the Turks looked at Rude and then Elena. "...Go," he commanded, pointing where he had entered from. "Don't let Sephiroth get away."

In unison, his subordinates saluted him. "Yes sir!"

And as per his instructions, Elena climbed down the ledge to where everyone else was, while Rude took two steps towards Tseng before turning around to face Cloud. "...Reno said he wanted to see you after the injuries you gave him healed," he warned him with a glare. "He wants to show his affection for you all... with a new weapon." Once he and Elena were together again, they jogged past their leader and out of the cave.

And now as the lone Turk in the room, Tseng stepped forward and scanned his eyes at the group. "Well, then..." he said as his hopes were confirmed, meeting face-to-face with her once again. "Aerith, long time no see. Looks like you're safe from Shinra for a while, now that Sephiroth reappeared."

"What are you saying?" the Cetra replied with some dissatisfaction in her soft tone. "That I should be grateful to Sephiroth?"

"No," Tseng shook his head and looked at his watch. "I won't be seeing too much of you, so take care."

Before turning around to leave, he heard Aerith speak again. "...Strange, hearing that from you."

"Well then, stay out of Shinra's way," he said, giving her a nod before finally walking away.

* * *

 _ **A/N** : The scene in FFVII where Cloud and AVALANCHE confronted the Turks._


	15. Chapter 15 - Turks in Training

**Before Crisis 2: The Crisis** by Jescii

 _The events of FFVII told from the Turks' POV. I do not own the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII or any of its characters. The credit goes to Square Enix._

* * *

 **Chapter 15** \- Turks in Training

 **December 15th [ ν ] - εγλ 0007**

"Things are looking very, very well..."

"Yeah? Am I medically cleared?"

"Give it another three or four days. However, I'd advise you to begin training again... with the rib brace. A little cardio tomorrow certainly wouldn't hurt."

Those were the words of Reno's doctor before Saturday midnight. After a full day of rest, the redhead had started to feel much better. He was recovering faster than anyone would have thought, as he no longer needed crutches just three days after his injury. With all that had gone on in the last week, he was grateful to have much of the time off, but now he couldn't wait to begin rehab and return to action.

Elena sighed as she sat comfortably in her new office. Tseng had asked her to spend the day training with Reno, as they both needed some brushing up on hand-to-hand combat. Her office was where they had planned to meet, and for some reason, it didn't surprise her that the he was running a few minutes late. When he finally came, the blonde jumped up as the door was slammed open rather than being knocked on politely.

"Rookie!" shouted Reno, storming in without crutches. "How was your first mission?"

"Excuse you..." frowned Elena, brushing him off.

"Didn't go well?"

"I thought the Turks were supposed to be more professional."

"Whoa there, lass," he shrugged, taking out his EMR jokingly. "Didn't mean to surprise you like that."

"Seriously? You come in twenty minutes late, and then just barge in without knocking!" she snapped at him. "You don't expect that from a high-ranking Turk. Or at least, I don't."

"The hell? You're one to talk," barked Reno, an agitated look on his face. "You've got a big mouth. I'd like for you to be a little kinder to your _superior_."

As much as she wanted to bite back, she just stood up and thought about what he said. _Maybe he's right. I'm new here and shouldn't push him around like that... and he's still injured_ , she thought. "Look, I'm sorry about your injury..." she mumbled an apology, expecting one from him in return. "But can we just forget-"

"Apologizing now?! For _that?_ Turks don't apologize for crybaby things like that," he yapped in a mocking tone. He then placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed it hard. Elena almost yelped in pain but managed to keep a straight face. "I understand that you're a girl... but if you're going to be one of us, you've got a lot to prove today," he told her.

"Yes sir," the blonde rolled her eyes as his hand released. _I take it back; this guy's gonna be a major pain._ "Yesterday's mission went okay. But sir, can we just get to work? We're already twenty minutes late..."

"Twenty minutes, thirty minutes, doesn't matter if the director isn't here," Reno smirked and then shrugged his shoulders. "But if you're so eager to work... then follow me."

* * *

Reno and Elena went to Floor 64 of the Shinra Building after deciding to spend the day training at the gym. They had agreed to train alone for an hour before moving onto hand-to-hand combat drills, which they both admittedly needed some work on.

"Well, now that you work here," Reno spoke as he met her outside of the changing rooms. He was sporting a pair of gym shorts, a rib brace, and a white T-shirt with the Shinra logo on it. "The entire gym is free to use," he continued. "It has everything. You can even book a private workout room, and that's what we'll be doing when we practice hand-to-hand combat."

Elena laughed. "Sure beats training in the Sector 6 slums." She had put on a pair of short gym shorts, and a tank top that revealed a bit of her midriff. "So are we splitting up first?"

"Yeah."

The Floor 64 gym was often quiet on the weekend morning, as it was rare for many employees to stay in the Shinra Building outside of work hours. Not the case for Turks and SOLDIERs, however, as they worked under a contract that paid them regardless of what they did, as long as it was approved by the Head of Public Safety. But unlike the Turks, SOLDIERs had always trained in their own gym on Floor 49, where its rooms had a virtual reality system that was capable of projecting holographic elements of a pre-programmed setting, with digital enemies to fight. Training was all they did outside of assignments and it was far more intense than the average Turks' workout... but in the end, the Turks were still paid better than the SOLDIERs.

After an hour of weights and treadmill, Reno and Elena were ready to take their training to the next step. "Get out of here! This room is for Turks only," the redhead lied, screaming at the lower-ranked employees who had been occupying one of the training rooms. As they ran out dissatisfied with his command, he smiled at Elena and told her that the Turks needed more of his brash attitude. Sometimes he wished Rude and Tseng would talk more instead of being so stern all the time.

"So, just a reminder," he told Elena as they walked towards the center of the room. "I'm still recovering from my injuries, so take it easy, okay?"

The rookie nodded. "Don't worry, we have our own goals today. And we're helping each other get through this."

With the agreement, the two Turks squared off to initiate hand-to-hand combat. _Take it easy, he's still recovering from his injuries._ Those were Elena's thoughts before it all began... and the next thing she knew, Reno had already thrown her and tackled her down to the mat. Down early and failing to find her rhythm back up, she was handed one opportunity to get to her feet, only for the redhead to immediately knock her back down. He was aggressive in the way he attacked as he managed to pin her once by the upper arms, his weight crashing on top of hers. The way she squirmed made it clear to him that she definitely had some martial arts training, but nothing like his as she had been trying to defend herself the whole time. He knew she was taking easy on him but there was no way he was going to take easy on a rookie.

By the time Elena was tackled down for the sixth time, she finally started to realize that Reno was taking advantage of her. She got the idea that he was using her as a human punching bag who was thrown around like a toy, pinned to the mat and eventually released, only to be tackled down over and over again. It was time for her to stop being so easy on him and fight back.

But Elena thought it was best to let him know about it. "Hey, hey, stop! This is totally unfair!" she screamed. Reno had just delivered a high kick, which she managed to block successfully with her wrist, but the impact was hard enough to deal significant pain up her arm. "Stop," she cried again, taking a big leap away from him.

"There a problem?" replied Reno as he lowered his fighting stance.

"I thought we were going easy on each other!" she shouted in a high-pitched voice. "But it doesn't seem like it. You're taking this too far!"

"How so?"

"You haven't been giving me _any_ chances..." The rookie was now slouched over with her hands on her knees. "You're _using_ me as some kind of human punching bag..."

"I'm not physically at a hundred percent, y'know..."

"But unlike me, you've been trying your hardest... while I've been taking easy on you so I won't freaking hurt you, because you told me to! I swear, if you're not gonna stop..."

Reno sighed. _She's making this a big deal out of nothing..._ "Why don't you try harder then?" he suggested with a glare on his face. "You wench..."

After hearing that insult, Elena straightened her posture and scowled at him. "I am seriously going to hurt you."

The redhead smirked before gesturing for her to come at him. "Bring it on, _rookie_."

 _Good._ Getting what she had always wanted, the two Turks began to square off once again. This time, it was Elena who managed to strike first with a kick, and her very first glory of offense. Surprising him a little, she let Reno counter with a flip and some more kicks of his own, and the two traded shots and blocks before grinding out a nearly equal battle. However, the rookie was still disadvantaged due to the damage he had inflicted on her earlier, as well as the differences between their size and physical strength. The advantages started to favor Reno the longer the battle went on, and eventually he was successful in fully draining her stamina after a mere five minutes.

For the seventh time, Reno had Elena tackled and pinned to the mat, sitting on her as he held her by the wrists. To make matters more decisive, he could tell she was completely out of breath this time, as she had stopped writhing around and flailing her arms and legs. But even then, the rookie had no intentions of surrendering to the arrogant, obnoxious bastard.

"Have you given up?" the redhead said sarcastically, glaring straight down at her. "Because you should."

"Never!" she shouted, panting heavily. "Never to a son of a bitch like you!"

His facial expression tensed. "Give up or else!" he screamed again, already doing her a favor by sitting on her thighs, and not her stomach. When she cursed at him a second time, he tightened his grip on her body. It was that moment when he thought of a brilliant idea. "You _still_ don't want to give up?" he snickered evilly as she again shook her head. "Guess I have no choice but to..."

"What are you-" muttered Elena, confusedly as her arms were slowly and gently released. This was her chance to break free... but then the next thing she knew, she was squirming and twisting and had lost all control of her body, a peal of giggles escaping her lips. "Wha-wa-wa-HAHAHAHA! HAHAHAHA!" Reno had slid his hands beneath her shirt and started tickling her sides and ribs like crazy.

"You're ticklish!" he noted cheerfully as his fingers attacked her bare midsection without mercy. "Give up now!"

"Stop, STOP! Hehehehehe! RENO!" she begged helplessly between fits of hysteria, her body wriggling in reaction to the horrible sensation she absolutely hated. "HAHAHAHA! PLEASE!" As it became clear to Reno that Elena was _extremely_ ticklish, he knew that she had no chance to escape. He was not going to stop until she declared him the winner, and her laughter brought him so much joy knowing that she was suffering from it. Tickling was her biggest weakness and she was vulnerable to it on every part of her body.

The next three minutes of torture was probably the worst she had ever experienced, and he could have easily gone for another ten if not for her surrender. "Okay! Okay! You win! You win-eheheheh!" she screamed as her watery eyes stared directly at his devilish smirk. When Reno finally rolled away, Elena continued to lie on the mat, panting wildly and still letting out giggles as her hands gripped her sensitive sides. As relieved as she was that he stopped, she was already thinking of getting revenge on him... somehow. _That fucking pervert... heheheheh... I'm going to kill him..._

After taking a few minutes to catch her breath, Elena stood up and gave Reno the middle finger before charging at him. "I'm going to fucking kill you!" she shouted ragingly, prompting the redhead to get to his feet. When they met at the center of the room, the two Turks began to clash for the third time.

Unfortunately for Elena, that was only the beginning of the entire process starting all over again. But as angry as she was, the day of training had turned out rather successful. Despite the humiliation, she had actually managed to improve her skills in the struggle, and doing so made her a lot more aggressive as a Turk in combat. Hopefully, Reno realized that what he did was helpful.

* * *

 _ **A/N** : _


	16. Chapter 16 - Inauguration Day

**Before Crisis 2: The Crisis** by Jescii

 _The events of FFVII told from the Turks' POV. I do not own the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII or any of its characters. The credit goes to Square Enix._

* * *

 **Chapter 16** \- Inauguration Day

 **December 16th [ ν ] - εγλ 0007, 10:50 AM**

During what one would describe as a rowdy morning, countless of huge, red banners proclaiming a 'New Age' of Shinra were raised on the many buildings along Upper Junon's main street. All personnel associated with Shinra had travelled from Midgar to attend Rufus' presidential inauguration, and though it was scheduled to take place at noon, the marching band had already started a performance since early morning, a march song that was seemingly on an endless loop. The sound was so deafening that it had awakened everyone in the city, including those living at the harbor.

As for the Turks, three of them had spent the morning in the Shinra Member's Bar. Sitting from left to right, Tseng, Elena, and Reno gazed up at the television that hung from the ceiling. On the TV displayed a private channel of Shinra staff organizing the event. The Turks had managed to avoid all of the uproar from outside by secretly switching off the restaurant's open sign, of which the servers failed to notice despite the lack of customers in the bar.

Even then, the open windows and lighting were enough to welcome in a group of lousy Shinra grunts, who had seemingly come in only to pollute cigarette smoke in the air. The ensuing stench caused Tseng to grimace while Elena, a former part-time barmaid in Wall Market, recognized it all too well but hated it more than her facial expression indicated. In contrast, Reno minded less of it but was just as annoyed to have outsiders invade his space.

"Yeah... fuck outta here," the redhead scolded, quietly as the smokers left the bar after five minutes. "I knew I should've brought pepper spray..."

"Tseng, sir?" called Elena in a soft voice. Tseng noticed her when she shifted her body towards him. "I'd like to have a few things cleared up..."

The leader of the Turks lowered his drink. "What are you saying?"

"About the two murders," she stated her concerns, referring to the Friday incident. "That _should_ be enough evidence that Sephiroth was in the city, right?"

"Yes, it's true," he confirmed. "But where exactly remains unknown. Why do you ask?"

"I..." Elena paused and bit her lip as she was faced with the curious question. "I worry. What if he's still in the city?"

"Imagine if he appears on live television and crashes the parade," interjected Reno, sarcastically. "Surely that would give the Turks something interesting to do for once." He took a gulp of his beer and smirked as Elena covered her mouth in surprise. Tseng glowered at him, shaking his head.

"Why would you say that?" responded Elena; she wanted to just nudge him hard in the ribs for what he did yesterday. "Ridiculous!" The blonde then spun herself towards Tseng. "Sir, I don't think we're taking this seriously enough..."

"We're taking this very seriously," he corrected, still scowling at the redhead. "What makes you think otherwise?"

"It's just..." she sighed, also turning to Reno. "The minute you think the job's boring, you guys start messing around."

"You think Tseng messes around?"

"I meant you and Rude."

"Those are big words coming from a rookie," Tseng commented as he saw the blonde's cheeks turn a light pink. He then looked at the redhead. "You two don't embarrass yourselves on live television," he warned, causing Reno and Elena to glare at each other. "And to clarify, yes; Sephiroth was in Junon, but the parade was already scheduled long before he got here. Now's not the time to get everyone in panic mode... and as you already know, the President has made it clear that we proceed as planned."

"The President's safety is secure because we're here," smiled Reno, smugly. "Really! But who's in charge of organizing the parade? Heidegger. And I'm sure he gives zero fucks about Sephiroth and how he could be in Junon. He's too dumb to even consider this possibility."

"Hey. Stay outta this," barked Tseng, unimpressed by Reno's words towards the Head of Public Safety. Turning around, he saw that an infantryman had come inside the Shinra Member's Bar. Silence ensued in the bar as the noise of Shinra's marching band continued to overpower all sounds.

The Turks might have had this lousy morning all to themselves, but it was all work for them following the parade. Shortly after, they were to fly towards the Western Continent and assist the company in continued investigation, weapons research, and army mobilization, as well as information gathering on the unknown Promised Land. It was a ten-hour shift that was stated to last until midnight, and so they were granted permission to stay overnight at a hotel in Costa del Sol.

The President's plans after the event was to sail to the Western Continent aboard the Shinra Cargo Ship. Hoping to address his presidency in an overseas trip, Rufus was hoping to use the new _Highwind_ as his primary travel airship, designed by chief aeronautical engineer Cid Highwind. Much to his dismay, however, Heidegger had failed to prepare any of the airships in time - not even a _Gelnika_ \- and that every special aircraft in Junon was out of service for the time being. Therefore, Rufus had to resort to helicopters and it was Tseng's responsibility to assist him in the trip.

"I'm outta here," voiced Reno as he stood up and tidied his unbuttoned uniform. "Thanks for the booze."

"And where do you think you're going?" asked Tseng, curiously.

"The _other_ bar," the redhead smiled, turning around as he headed for the exit. "You know, where Rude is with his gang. Come along, if you'd like."

"Very well, then," nodded Tseng, signaling for the barkeeper to send him the bill as the door swung open for Reno. "Elena, will you follow me?"

Looking him in the eyes, Elena smiled as she was momentarily drawn away by his allure. "For sure."

* * *

As the clock hit noon under Junon Standard Time, December 16th, 0007 was officially marked as the inauguration day of Rufus Shinra. The Welcome March had finally gone underway on the main street of Upper Junon, the parade forming in professional marching action. On the golden float stood every member of the Shinra Executive, including Scarlet, Palmer, Reeve Tuesti, Heidegger, and the very President Rufus himself, waving gracefully at the hundreds of people along the side buildings, and the thousands of civilians below who had attended the event. Several groups of cameramen followed the executives with every step as they approached the podium that faced the audience below, the band and choir starting a song with the following lyrics:

 _"Rufus- Rufus Shinra-_  
 _We are Shinra Company, the new President-_  
 _Oh, oh Shinra-_  
 _Oh-oh-oh Shinra, Incorporated-_  
 _Realization of the new era, new President Rufus-_  
 _Oh-oh-oh Shinra, Incorporated-_  
 _Building the new era, Shinra forever."_

When the half-hour-long march finally reached the dead end, the President's subordinates stepped by the large wall displayed behind the podium, decorated with the same red "New Age" banners and a flag of the Shinra logo in the center. The successful formation of Shinra Executives indicated an entry for the four Turks, who had been waiting behind the wall the whole time. After they joined the formation, the noise level of the city died down as the marching song came to an end, and at last, Rufus Shinra stepped on the podium for his inauguration speech.

"Director Heidegger, Reeve, Scarlet, Palmer, and the Department of Administrative Research, the Turks, to the great city of Junon and all in attendance today and everyone around the world: Thank you," he spoke through the microphone. "It is of great honor to stand before you all as the new President of Shinra Electric Power Company.

"Let it be known first-hand that this is not a time of celebration, but one that begins the transitional 'New Age' of Shinra in the fastest and strongest way possible. My father is just one man of the millions we lost last week. When he was in charge for the last several decades, we as good citizens and leaders of the world have been through it all. We have been through challenges, hardships, terrorism, environmental changes, and much, much more. I respect and will acknowledge my father's time when he controlled the world... through money and power. Yes, with his lies... broken promises... and carelessness towards all of you, your trust for the Shinra Company has minimized significantly. Therefore it is my intention as President to set things right, and immediately bring change to what was once a world full of unity, faith, and excellence..."

On what was only the beginning of a half-hour speech, Rufus opted not to address the situation regarding Sephiroth and AVALANCHE. With his desire to control the world through manipulative fear, he would have had to sooner than later, but in a way without causing everyone to lose their minds right from the start. From pledging to improve the currently sad state of the Planet, to reconnecting Shinra's relationship with the nation of Wutai, whether his words seemed promising to the people did not matter. The world was going to see change either way and he knew he would have to adapt to it.

Following the conclusion of the speech, the parade ended with one final band performance and a show of fireworks to re-emphasize Shinra's 'New Age'. A hovering B1-Alpha Helicopter had then made its way to the podium, lowering to the ground as Rufus prepared to enter it alongside Heidegger. The helicopter was to take them to the Shinra Cargo Ship, and before entering the aircraft, Heidegger turned around and waved at Tseng. He had signaled for the Turks to head for Junon Airport to begin their next mission. No Sephiroth, no problem. The inauguration day was successful.

* * *

 _ **A/N** : Part of this chapter includes the scene in FFVII where Cloud, dressed as a soldier, encounters the Turks in the Shinra's Member Bar._


	17. Chapter 17 - The Man in the Black Cape

**Before Crisis 2: The Crisis** by Jescii

 _The events of FFVII told from the Turks' POV. I do not own the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII or any of its characters. The credit goes to Square Enix._

* * *

 **Chapter 17** \- The Man in the Black Cape

 **December 18th [ ν ] - εγλ 0007**

It was suspected that Sephiroth had sneaked into the Shinra Cargo Ship that day. Several SOLDIERs had lain flat on the floor, writhing in a puddle of their blood as the emergency klaxon blared inside the ship, reporting that a suspicious character had been found. Yet no one was able to find him upon further investigation, and now six days had gone by without a trace.

It was also suspected that AVALANCHE had also sneaked in, and security footage confirmed that they had disguised themselves by putting on Shinra uniforms. Rufus had blamed Heidegger for the incident, stating that he could have been killed on the day of his inauguration. Embarrassed and frustrated, Heidegger responded by throwing locals into the sea when they arrived to Costa del Sol.

Two days had elapsed since the incident and the Turks were ready to take their search to the Western Continent. Once again, Rude and Elena were paired up for the investigation while Tseng set off on a mission to gather supplies with the Weapons Department. Due to the potential dangers of the mission, Reno was advised to stay in the Shinra Building and recover for one last day.

"Good morning Elena," greeted Tseng as the rookie entered his office. "Ready for the mission?"

"Morning... sir, what is that you're holding?" asked Elena, taking the seat next to Rude. In the hands of her supervisor was a plush toy cat with thick black fur and white spots on its face and stomach. The anthropomorphic cat was approximately three feet in height, wearing gloves and boots on its paws and a red cape around its neck, as well as a golden crown between its pointy ears. A yellow megaphone was grasped firmly in the right glove as it was held close to the cat's mouth, which smiled in a playful manner.

"This is Cait Sith," introduced Tseng as he moved the front paws up and down. Elena just raised a brow, confused.

"Hello Elena," the cat suddenly spoke, its voice squeaky and high-pitched.

"Ah!" Elena literally jumped up in astonishment, her mouth hanging open. "It talked?!"

"That would be 'he', lady," corrected Cait Sith as Rude chuckled at the rookie's reaction. "Tseng, please explain to her who I am."

"Cait Sith is a robot controlled by Reeve Tuesti. We're going to use him to spy on AVALANCHE," the leader of the Turks explained. "Part of your mission is to take him to Gold Saucer. According to reports, Cloud and company could be headed there next."

Elena laughed, unsure about the plan. "Well, this should be interesting."

"And that's not all there is to it..." continued Tseng as he leaned under the cabinet beside his desk. Elena thought she'd seen something hiding in there as it was dragged into the scene. "Cait Sith will be riding on this giant mog robot."

"Whoa..."

It was a plump, stuffed white mog that stood over five feet tall and four feet wide. The toysaurus had a rather cute expression with its bulgy eyes and tusk-like teeth, a pair of tiny vampire-like wings hanging from the back. Its round, fingerless fists were about the size of a watermelon and looked more than capable of crushing anything in its path, so long as its enormous, stumpy feet were capable of running.

"The mog can run and fight," said Rude as Tseng plugged Cait Sith on top of the oversized robot. "The whole thing may look... cute, but it can hit hard."

"I'm also the greatest fortune teller you'll ever meet!" chirped Cait Sith in a bizarre northern accent. "Want me to read your fortunes? Let me know! Or shall we get going? Time's a-ticking!"

* * *

And so marked the beginning of the Turks' mission to find Cloud and Sephiroth. It began on a bright, sunny morning as Rude, Elena, and Cait Sith jogged towards one of the B1-Alpha Helicopters, with two Shinra-D07s in their possession. Their destination was Gold Saucer, a city of wealth known for its towering amusement park built over the ruins of Corel. The time to get there from Midgar was three hours, which was convenient as three hours was also the time difference between the two locations.

About half an hour into the flight, Rude spoke up and initiated a conversation for the first time. "...Elena."

"...Yes, sir?" The rookie turned to him, curious about what he had to say.

"...You like Tseng, don't you?"

Elena froze. "W-what? No," she quickly denied. "Why do you ask?"

It was the exact response he had expected from her. "Admit it."

"I don't!"

"Alright then..." sighed Rude, seeing that she had uncomfortably turned away from him. "I mean, it's very obvious, but..." he mumbled before looking at the mirror, and noticed that Cait Sith was listening to the conversation. "Hey Cait Sith," he called out.

"Mmmm?"

"Why don't you read Elena's fortune?"

"Ohohoho!" he squealed as the mog's arms flapped up and down in excitement. "A fortune for the new Turk, I'm so excited. Now, what should I predict?"

"Why don't you tell us how romantically compatible Elena and Tseng are?"

"Oh god, don't..." whined Elena. Now she was blushing.

"How very interesting," cheeped Cait Sith, a big smile appearing on his face. "Normally, it'll cost ya. But this one I'll do for free. Here I go!"

Pausing for a moment, the cat crossed his arms in concentration before the mog began to swing back and forth in a rhythm. The toysaurus followed a dance pattern as its arms and legs moved up and down for a good ten seconds, stopping when a piece of paper popped out of its mouth. Cait Sith leaned down and took the paper with his free hand.

"Elena, this one's yours to read!" he shouted, passionately.

"I don't want it."

"Don't want to know your fortune? Okay... then I'll tell ya!" Bringing the paper to his face, the cat began to read it silently.

"...What's it say?" asked Rude as he itched his goatee.

"Oh no... this isn't good," mourned Cait Sith with a tint of sarcasm. "I'm just kidding! Elena and Tseng are perfect for each other! They have a great future!"

The rookie simply shook her head, embarrassed as her fingers ran down her hair. "Good to know..." she murmured to herself, not knowing what to say.

"You like Tseng," repeated Rude, grinning all the while. But this time, it was Elena who did the ignoring.

* * *

The sound of the Shinra-D07 started to beep louder as the helicopter descended toward Gold Saucer. The Turks became convinced that Sephiroth had been lurking here, although they would have received reports by now if he had. The amusement park had always been loosely guarded by Shinra troops, but it was actually owned by a man named Dio, who had no real affiliation with Shinra.

Gold Saucer was a park full of all kinds of entertainment, from competitive chocobo racing to amusement rides and arcades. Accessed via a tram from North Corel, it served as a holiday spot for tourists from all over the world, regarded as the second best only behind Costa del Sol. Situated below the park was an outdoor penitentiary known as Corel Prison, the desert ruins of the once existing town of Corel.

After leaving Cait Sith off at Wonder Square, Rude and Elena split up to search for Sephiroth. At the beginning of the investigation, the Shinra-D07 displayed a high concentration of Jenova within a radius of three miles, indicating that there were definitely traces of the intended target nearby. Rude headed to Chocobo Square as he was told by employees that Dio was there, while Elena continued to track the Shinra-D07, which eventually took her to Battle Square.

Upon finally reaching the target, the rookie froze as she noticed that it was something very unexpected. "Hey Rude," she spoke through the PHS. "I found the target... but it doesn't look like Sephiroth to me."

Standing a few steps from Elena was a figure that was fully covered in a black cape, slouched over as its back was turned towards her. It didn't even seem human to her until she heard it speak a few words, as strange as they sounded. "Bla...bla...black...materia...need black materia..."

"It sounds like a man. He's covered in a black cape," she reported. The man's hand was barely sticking out and she saw a tattoo with the number "1" on it. "I'm not even sure if there's a human inside."

"For the...the reunion. Need...black...materia..."

"I'm sorry, I don't quite understand," she said while approaching him, wondering why Rude hadn't said anything back. There were witnesses around her who just looked on from a safe distance away. _What should I do? He looks completely harmless... and I almost feel bad for him._

"Help... for the reunion..."

"Um..." Without hesitation, Elena slowly reached for the man's arm to get a feel of his nearly motionless body. But just as her hand made contact with his clothing, the man suddenly began to evaporate into thin air before completely vanishing out of sight. "Wha, what?!" she screamed in utter shock as cheers from the crowd could be heard in the background. "Whoa, whoa, WHOA! What just happened?!"

Spooked and bewildered, the rookie sprinted out of the Battle Square entrance and headed straight to where Rude was. If he wasn't going to respond to her message, she might as well just find him and tell him in person. He had told her before the search that he was headed to Chocobo Square to confront Dio.

"Rude! Rude! Rude!" shouted Elena in front of a crowd as she noticed the bald man come into view from the distance. But then seeing that he was busy talking to someone, she immediately skidded to a halt, doubling over and panting after nearly two miles of nonstop running. Taking a few moments to catch her breath, the blonde looked up to see exactly who he was talking to. "...Rude?"

Across of him was a young, dark-haired woman and someone Elena recognized all too well. She wore her usual attire of a miniskirt and white tank top that revealed her long legs and midriff. It was Tifa, the female fugitive from AVALANCHE. _The fuck is he doing with Tifa?_ wondered Elena, realizing that he was also without his sunglasses, and that his uniform was unbuttoned.

"I was with two other people, a guy and a girl," she heard Tifa speak. "But they just left me, and went off together..."

"And now you're here all alone?" said Rude in a more enthusiastic tone. Elena had never heard him speak like that. "Maybe we can go watch the next chocobo race... together?"

"Mmm," hummed Tifa, smiling and giggling at the idea. "I would love to."

It was that moment when the buzzing sound of her PHS interrupted the conversation. "Tifa, we're worried about Barret. He's not answering. Meet us at Station Square," said the voice of another woman, presumably Aerith's. Rude's eyes lit up at the mention of Barret, and when he turned to his right, he saw that Elena was standing there, eavesdropping on the whole conversation. _Oh shit..._

"I'm sorry... but this is an emergency. I have to go now," muttered Tifa as she took off without a goodbye.

Shaking his head in disappointment, Rude put on his sunglasses and walked towards Elena, who had her arms crossed. "My apologies," he said sarcastically in his usual monotonous tone. "I got a little carried away there."

"You think this is funny?" snapped Elena, angrily. "We're on a mission here! But you... conversing with the enemy..."

"Elena-"

"Is that the way a professional, a Turk should act!?"

"Calm down," said Rude, petting her on the head. "Don't misunderstand. She didn't know that I was a Turk."

"..."

"But... I'll have you know that I kinda like her... just like how you have a crush on Tseng..."

"..."

"Let's get back to work."

* * *

 _ **A** **/N:** Turks in Gold Saucer before the Dyne incident. Gongaga next._


End file.
